JANCOVIC_KURUMI NARA 64 76
After falling out of the top 20 one year ago, former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic is steadily trying to make her way back to the top of the WTA. The journey has been full of frustrations and triumphs for the current world No. 12. Her third-round match against Kurumi Nara of Japan was no different. After nearly two hours of play that featured exceptional tennis on Court 17, Jankovic prevailed in a gritty 6-4, 7-6 victory to advance to the round of 16. Playing against a qualifier who had nothing to lose and a healthy amount of confidence heading into the match, Jankovic had a considerable test on her hands. Nara, ranked No. 109, made her US Open debut in impressive fashion, taking out No. 73 Alexandra Cadantu of Romania in the first round, then cleared another Romanian hurdle in No. 19 seed Sorana Cirstea. From the start of the match, there didn’t appear to be a large margin of difference between the two women’s games. Jankovic had overwhelming power, particularly from the backhand wing, that she used to outhit the 21-year-old Japanese newcomer, but Nara had a few tricks up her sleeve in the form of touch volleys and well-placed passing shots.
The opening set stayed even until the end, when Jankovic broke Nara at 5-4 to take the lead. The second set was a shaky back-and-forth battle that featured eight breaks of serve, with three of the first four breaks favoring Nara for a 5-2 lead. The deficit sparked a run from Jankovic, who won the next three games to level it at 5-5. Just when it looked like the Serbian had righted the ship, Nara used a lunging volley winner and a drop shot to break Jankovic for a chance to serve for the match. But it wasn’t to be for Nara, as she failed to hold serve yet again, and a tiebreak followed. Just as the entire match had played out until this point, the tiebreak was a close fight to the very end. At 5-5, two consecutive netted forehands from Nara handed Jankovic the match.
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