Friday, September 5, 2008

The Jelena show moves on


When I saw the wind start to kick up at the beginning of the Jelena Jankovic-Elena Dementieva U.S. semifinal today, my hopes for Jankovic immediately rose. Neither she nor Dementieva is known for serving--making them both vulnerable to wind gusts-- but I have seen Jankovic master much tougher wind conditions. It was a a bit of a strange match--dramatic rallies interspersed with errors and missed opportunities. Early in the second set, there were four breaks in a row.

It came down to wind mastery, and to whoever could handle the occasion better. Jankovic dominated in both those categories, taking the match, 6-4, 6-4. In defeating Dementieva, Jankovic now goes to her first final in a major.

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