Jelena Jankovic didn't have a upset bug like fellow countrywoman Ana Ivanovic and Russian Maria Sharapova. Jankovic kept focused even if she lost the first set to youngster Caroline Wozniacki, and still won the match in a breathe-taking three setter, 26 64 62. Jankovic's play wasn't clean and clear, as she hit 39 unforced errors throughout the match, and won less than half the break point chances she had.
"I was really not happy with the way I was playing, especially in the first set," Jankovic said. "I made so many unforced errors. It was very windy out there and hard for me to find my rhythm. I was disappointed with my performance throughout the whole match. But it's also very important to somehow find a way to win when you're not playing your best. Nobody goes out there and puts up the white flag. She's very young and very motivated, and she wanted to win."
This isn't the first time that Jankovic has reached the second week here at Wimbledon. Despite fellow Serbian Ivanovic exiting early, Jankovic didn't want that to happen to her.
I thought maybe I was the next one," Jankovic joked. "The top seeds, when they're not playing so well, usually get through these rounds and start playing better and better the rest of the tournament. But the conditions are quite tough here and the players they played were really swinging freely. It's very tough to get out of that and they couldn't somehow. Today I was lucky I could."
Next, Jankovic will face Tamarine Tanasugarn, who won to New Zealander Marina Erakovic in three sets, 46 64 64, and before that, Russian Vera Zvonareva. Tanasugarn pushed Jankovic to the limits at their last meeting, on clay, which Jankovic won.
"She must be playing very well on grass and most of the players say that this is where she plays her best," Jankovic said on Tanasugarn. "She plays very flat and stays very low. She likes to play on this surface. It's going to be a tough one."
Venus continues winning streak; Peer ruins all-Russian quarterfinal
Venus Williams, Jankovic's possible quarterfinal opponent, continued to advance as she got past Spanish qualifier Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, 61 75.
"I was happy with that one," Williams said. "The first set was pretty clean. The second set she just changed her strategy, started playing better and much more aggressively, and got that break back. She started putting some pressure on me, but I was pretty happy because I had some good answers."
Williams will next face Alisa Kleybanova, who was victorious against unseeded player Ai Sugiyama, 64 64. In Kleybanova's second round match, she won to Daniela Hantuchova. It was her third Top 20 win. She has never won to a Top 10 player.
In the bottom half of the draw, Shahar Peer won to Dinara Safina, who was a French Open finalist this year, in a thrilling three-setter, 75 67(4) 86. Peer will play fifth seeded Russian Elena Dementieva, who won to Gisela Dulko in a tight two-setter, 76(2) 75.
In the quarterfinals, the winner of Peer and Dementieva will face either No.21 seed Nadia Petrova or Alla Kudryavtseva, after Petrova beat No.16 seed Victoria Azarenka, 76(11) 76(4), and Kudryavtseva beat Peng Shuai, 63 16 64.
"She had a very good win against Maria, and even today she really proved she's a tough player to beat on grass," said Petrova on Kudryavtseva. "She really enjoys this surface. This is the best she's ever done in a Grand Slam. When we play I'm sure I can just expect anything from her. She will be playing free."
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