Jankovic guts out win
NEW YORK — Jelena Jankovic lay sprawled on her stomach in the middle of the court for several moments. Was she hurt? Maybe a reoccurrence of the knee injury sustained at Wimbledon?
"No, I was just tired, and I couldn't get up," the No. 2 seed said after her three-set victory in the second round of the U.S. Open Wednesday.
"I was so exhausted at that moment. I was breathing hard, and I didn't have the energy to get up."
Jankovic is still rounding back into shape after the injury. Her lack of conditioning and an array of hard forehands and well-placed drop shots by Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson left Jankovic fighting to get her wind during the 2-hour, 44-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
She was relieved to muster enough energy to pull out a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win.
"For me to play three hours, it's amazing at this moment, because I haven't been training as hard as I want to," Jankovic said. "I'm now training to get that, but it takes time. It's not going to happen overnight."
She planned to run on a treadmill for 10 minutes after the match but lasted only three when her leg cramped up. Jankovic felt much better after treatment with ice and stretching and massaging.
"Whew. You know, I was lucky," she said. "I was saying to my coach, 'Can you imagine if this happened during the match? I probably wouldn't have been able to finish it.' Luckily, I finish before it happens. So just in time."
Eighth-seeded Andy Roddick, who has battled a shoulder injury this summer that led him to skip the Beijing Olympics, won his opening match in straight sets. He beat Fabrice Santoro — the oldest man in the draw at 35 — 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.
The match ended with Santoro thinking Roddick had tried to hit him with the ball. Roddick said that wasn't the case and he would try to seek out Santoro to clear the air.
The third night traditionally showcases the first men's match of the second round, but this year that was saved until today. All women's matches Wednesday were second-round pairings.
While Jankovic escaped an early exit, No. 8 seed Vera Zvonareva couldn't. Zvonareva was upended by Tatiana Perebiynis 6-3, 6-3 in the tournament's biggest upset yet.
No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova shook off an early break and rallied to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva advanced over Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-1. No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also won.
Former champ Lindsay Davenport, the No. 23 seed, beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3.
