TORONTO – Half of the best-case scenario final for the injury-plagued Rogers Cup tennis tournament in Toronto is still on the table as Jelena Jankovic moved to the semifinals with a straight-set win (7-5, 6-2) over Virginie Razzano earlier this afternoon.
The Serbian powerhouse managed to keep up with Razzano’s strong play in the first set, but went on to dominate the second as has been her custom during the week.
With defending champion Ana Ivanovic losing her first match, and Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova all opting not to make the trek to Toronto, the best-case final for the tournament is undoubtedly Jankovic meeting #1 seed Justine Henin on Sunday. With Jankovic’s win, Henin must defeat Nadia Petrova tonight for the ‘dream final’ to still be possible.
Just like her last game against Sybille Bammer, the gusting winds at the Rexall Centre played a role in Jankovic’s match and service breaks were also a factor.
At a post-game press conference, the lanky brunette addressed the issue.
“We were, you know, both struggling a little bit because with this kind of windy conditions, the balls are not going quite where you want them to go,” she said. “And especially in the serve, when you toss the ball, you have a little bit of difficulties.”
To combat the wind, Jankovic said that she paid particular attention to keep herself quick on her feet and was prepared to attack the ball wherever it came from.
“But my main focus was on the movement, to really move my feet and try to get behind the ball the best as possible, and really be focused out there,” she said. “Watch the ball carefully because it’s moving everywhere, so you really have to be focused. And you cannot let your concentration go down.”
In previous interviews, the animated second seed in the Rogers Cup tournament, said that the serve was one of the facets of her game that she wanted to improve but any possible enhancements were hampered by the uncooperative conditions. Jankovic said that handing her opponent the victory was a concern because of the number of unforced errors she made on her service.
“And I was struggling with my serve because the wind was very strong. And then I would toss it up and then it would go to the side or whatever. And I was struggling to put it in the box, you know,” she said. “I made in a few games I made two double faults in a row, and that’s not the best thing. You know, I almost give her the whole game away with my double faults.”
While the player said that she was bothered by cramps in her game against Bammer yesterday and said that her stomach felt like “somebody [was] putting knives in it,” she said that it wasn’t a problem for her in the quarterfinal contest.
“Yeah, I took a medicine before I went on court and just for precaution, I didn’t want to have the same like yesterday,” Jankovic said. “And it’s not the best thing, but I felt fine during my match.”
Jankovic will play Tatiana Golovin in tomorrow’s semifinal, after the French player came back in a thrilling contest to upset Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets (2-6, 7-5, 6-1).
