Serena and Jelena setup US Open final battle for no. 1 spot
September 6, 2008
Going into the women’s semis of the 2008 US Open tennis tournament all four players had the chance to grab the no. 1 ranking on the WTA. Now that the semifinal matches have been played it is now a winner take all showdown between Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams in the final.
In testing conditions on center court both players got off to slow starts in their respective matches. Players found it difficult to time their shots due to swirling winds on Arthur Ashe stadium.
First up was the no. 2 seed Jankovic against the no. 5 seed Elena Dementieva. It was the no. 5 seed who got off to a better start as she broke early to go out to a 2-0 lead. Dementieva’s game started to slip when she lead 4-2 and it was Jankovic who won five straight games to take the first set 6-4 and lead 1-0 in the second.
Dementieva had chances in the second set to take hold of the match and she broke Jankovic twice. Unfortunately for her she could not hold her own serve often enough as Jankovic closed out the match with three breaks of serve along the way. Jankovic earned her first ever grand slam final spot with a 6-4, 6-4 victory. Claiming two sets from Dementieva was no mean feat as she had not dropped a set all tournament.
Serena Williams also started slowly in her match against Dinara Safina. She fell a break behind early in the first set but then came back to break Safina twice. The strong wind was causing havoc with the players ball toss and ground strokes in general. Serena took the first set 6-3.
In the second set Safina was once again able to break. This did not help her much as she herself was broken three times. In the end Serena won the second set comfortably 6-2. This took her to the final once again where she will be playing for her third US Open title and ninth grand slam title overall. Jankovic will of course be playing for her first grand slam title.
Jankovic and Williams have a head to head record that currently stands at 3-3. Interestingly all their matches have been played on hard courts. At the 2008 Australian Open Jankovic knocked Williams out at the quarterfinal stage winning 6-3, 6-4. Williams hit back in Miami winning 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.
In the final it remains to be seen if Jankovic can handle the pressure of the big occasion associated with playing in a grand slam final. If she keeps her nerves under control she should have a good shot at beating Williams. I think it is too hard to call.
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