Jankovic wins Serb battle
Thursday, 6 November 2008
Serbia's Jelena Jankovic comfortably beat compatriot Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-4 in their opening match of the round-robin Tour Championships in Doha, reports BBC.
In blustery conditions, Jankovic took just 40 minutes to win the first set while she looked at ease in the second even though Ivanovic improved slightly.
Venus Williams overturned a 5-2 deficit in the first set to power to a 7-5 6-3 win over Russia's Dinara Safina.
Earlier, Vera Zvonareva beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 in the White Group.
Zvonareva admitted she found it difficult to adapt to playing outdoors, saying: "The conditions are very difficult, especially since we were playing indoors for the past two months."
Two players from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament, with Ivanovic now facing an uphill task.
Ivanovic had won her last six matches with Jankovic, the most recent of which was the semi-final victory at this year's French Open.
But the 20-year-old has struggled for form in the latter half of the year, with last week's victory in the Linz Open her first tournament win in four months, and on this form she will be happy to see the season end.
The world number four never looked like continuing her impressive record over Jankovic as, even though she hit some spectacular winners, she made a number of errors.
Jankovic, on the other hand, who will remain top in the rankings regardless of results in Doha, is in prime condition to win the tournament.
In blustery conditions, Jankovic took just 40 minutes to win the first set while she looked at ease in the second even though Ivanovic improved slightly.
Venus Williams overturned a 5-2 deficit in the first set to power to a 7-5 6-3 win over Russia's Dinara Safina.
Earlier, Vera Zvonareva beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2 6-3 in the White Group.
Zvonareva admitted she found it difficult to adapt to playing outdoors, saying: "The conditions are very difficult, especially since we were playing indoors for the past two months."
Two players from each group will advance to the semi-finals of the season-ending tournament, with Ivanovic now facing an uphill task.
Ivanovic had won her last six matches with Jankovic, the most recent of which was the semi-final victory at this year's French Open.
But the 20-year-old has struggled for form in the latter half of the year, with last week's victory in the Linz Open her first tournament win in four months, and on this form she will be happy to see the season end.
The world number four never looked like continuing her impressive record over Jankovic as, even though she hit some spectacular winners, she made a number of errors.
Jankovic, on the other hand, who will remain top in the rankings regardless of results in Doha, is in prime condition to win the tournament.