Jankovic survives U.S. Open scare from unseeded Romanian

[~IronMan~]

Tue, Aug 31 11:34 PM

Enlarge PhotoJelena Jankovic of Serbia chases down a return to Simona Halep of Romania during the... Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic narrowly averted a first-round upset by rallying to beat unseeded Romanian teenager Simona Halep 6-4 4-6 7-5 at the U.S. Open on Tuesday.

The 18-year-old Halep, ranked 96th in the world, was two points from registering the first big upset of the championships serving at 5-4 in the third set before Jankovic broke her serve with a forehand winner to level the set.

Jankovic, who reached the Open final two years ago but has been hampered by an ankle injury in recent months, won the next two games and clinched the hard-fought match by breaking Halep at love in the final game.

Former world number one Jankovic next plays Croatian qualifier Mirjana Lucic, who eliminated Australian Alicia Molik.

(Reporting by Larry Fine; Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)





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