Jelena Jankovic outfoxes Flavia Pennetta in second round – Dubai Championships 2012
Former World Number one, Jelena Jankovic, secured a quarter-final berth in Dubai Duty Free Championship on Wednesday by defeating the 29-year-old Italian, Flavia Pennetta, in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
The Serbian tennis ace squashed the Italian in an hour and 40 minutes to register the sixth head-to-head win against her. Pennetta has only been able to triumph twice against Jankovic in eight meetings between them. Surprisingly, both wins were in the past
two encounters played between the two. Thus, the momentum was with the Italian but not the luck.
Jankovic kicked-off the proceedings with a successful serve game; broke her opponent’s serve in the following game and gusted past her with a lead of 3-0 in quick succession. Pennetta looked a bit worn out and fatigued with her feet not catching the right
type of movement. Jankovic wasted little time in attaining another breakpoint and scampered past her opponent with a lead of 5-1.
Pennetta did fight back and broke Jankovic’s serve in the following game but could not win the second break back that could have changed the scenario for her. She lost the first set in despair whilst her opponent looked on top of her game; stabbing the ball
with her powerful stroke making.
The second set started with a successful break to the Italian who won an initial 2-0 lead. It was all she could grab from the second set; Jankovic pounced on her with three back-to-back breakthroughs that did the trick. The Serb was in no mood at all to
prolong the match and her sublime form helped her to register a thumping result against an experienced competitor; sending a strong message to her potential competitors.
On her triumph, Jankovic stated, “I was down a break in the beginning, then I managed to lift up my game and I started playing a lot more aggressively”. She further added, “Especially I think I served a lot better than her today. I was holding my service
games and I was waiting for the opportunities to break her. Overall I think I played pretty well. Flavia is a great player and is playing well, and it wasn't easy to beat her.”
Jankovic will square-off against the fourth seed Aussie superstar, Samantha Stosur, in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. Stosur won a gruelling contest against the Czech contender, Lucie Safarova, to book a date with the former World Number one.