OMEN
01-21-2009, 09:42 AM
Top seed Jelena Jankovic was made to work by Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens before securing her place in the third round of the Australian Open with a 6-4 7-5 victory.
Jankovic took 70 minutes to despatch of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in the first round but needed one hour 46 minutes to see off the challenge of Flipkens in the Hisense Arena.
World number one Jankovic broke serve in the fifth game of the opening set but Flipkens immediately battled back to take the next game.
However, Jankovic again broke service to move ahead and then took the next game to claim the first set 6-4.
Flipkens moved into a 3-1 lead in the second set but Jankovic quickly fought back and twice broke serve only for her opponent to again wrestle her way back in front at 5-4.
However, Jankovic's class told as she won the next three games to take the match and set-up a third round match with 26th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
Ana Ivanovic has booked her place in the third round after defeating Italian qualifier Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-2.
It was a mixed performance by the fifth seed who hit 26 winners but committed the same number of unforced errors in the match at the Rod Laver Arena.
Ivanovic, who made a slow start against Julia Goerges before winning her first round tie 7-5 6-3, got an early breakthrough in the first match of day three when Brianti double faulted to hand the Serbian a 3-1 lead.
But a poor service game, in which she double faulted three times, allowed her opponent to break back immediately.
That seemed to kick-start Ivanovic who breezed through the next game to take a 4-2 lead which soon became 5-2 after a comfortable service game.
The eighth game was the longest of the match as Brianti was taken to deuce eight times before a lucky net cord finally handed her the game.
Ivanovic, last year's beaten finalist, sealed the first set when the Italian, ranked 169 in the world fired a backhand into the net.
Ivanovic broke twice to take a 3-0 lead at the start of the second set but her momentum was halted when Brianti called for a medical time out to get some treatment to her back.
It clearly affected the Serbian who was broken in the next game and although Brianti held her next service game she was no match for her more illustrious opponent who won the next three games to take the set and the match.
RTE
Jankovic took 70 minutes to despatch of Austrian Yvonne Meusburger in the first round but needed one hour 46 minutes to see off the challenge of Flipkens in the Hisense Arena.
World number one Jankovic broke serve in the fifth game of the opening set but Flipkens immediately battled back to take the next game.
However, Jankovic again broke service to move ahead and then took the next game to claim the first set 6-4.
Flipkens moved into a 3-1 lead in the second set but Jankovic quickly fought back and twice broke serve only for her opponent to again wrestle her way back in front at 5-4.
However, Jankovic's class told as she won the next three games to take the match and set-up a third round match with 26th-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan.
Ana Ivanovic has booked her place in the third round after defeating Italian qualifier Alberta Brianti 6-3 6-2.
It was a mixed performance by the fifth seed who hit 26 winners but committed the same number of unforced errors in the match at the Rod Laver Arena.
Ivanovic, who made a slow start against Julia Goerges before winning her first round tie 7-5 6-3, got an early breakthrough in the first match of day three when Brianti double faulted to hand the Serbian a 3-1 lead.
But a poor service game, in which she double faulted three times, allowed her opponent to break back immediately.
That seemed to kick-start Ivanovic who breezed through the next game to take a 4-2 lead which soon became 5-2 after a comfortable service game.
The eighth game was the longest of the match as Brianti was taken to deuce eight times before a lucky net cord finally handed her the game.
Ivanovic, last year's beaten finalist, sealed the first set when the Italian, ranked 169 in the world fired a backhand into the net.
Ivanovic broke twice to take a 3-0 lead at the start of the second set but her momentum was halted when Brianti called for a medical time out to get some treatment to her back.
It clearly affected the Serbian who was broken in the next game and although Brianti held her next service game she was no match for her more illustrious opponent who won the next three games to take the set and the match.
RTE