Jankovic joins Wozniacki in Dubai tennis quarter-finals

Dubai: Former finalist and sixth seed Jelena Jankovic joined top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the quarter-finals even as the second and third seeds and last year’s runner-up ended as third-round casualties at the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open late on Thursday.

Two-time grand slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova battled for nearly two hours to wage yet another epic encounter before winning 1-6, 6-0, 7-5 against French Open champion and third seed Francesca Schiavone after the 15th seeded Alisa Kleybaonova had made short work of world number three and second seed Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2.

And in the night’s final match on centre court, Jankovic – a finalist here on debut in 2005 – overcame some tense moments before scalping a tiring Kaia Kanepi 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 in nearly two and a half hours to occupy the final quarter-final slot against Samantha Stosur today.

In yet another gripping centre court encounter earlier, Azarenka – runner-up to Venus Williams last year – went down to Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 6-7, 6-4 as the top-seeded Wozniacki smothered Japanese qualifier Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0 in a late evening match.

True to expectations Kuznetsova and Schiavone were engaged in a tense battle duplicating a similar showdown in Melbourne at last month’s Australian Open – an encounter that lasted a grueling four hours, 44 minutes with Schiavone winning 16-14 in the third set.

This time, however, the result was reversed with Kuznetsova digging in deep in the deciding third set to earn the right to meet eighth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, a 6-3, 6-2 winner against tenth seed Marion Bartoli.

Earlier, fourth seed Samantha Stosur – runner-up to Schiavone at Roland Garros – was clinical in her form defeating Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-4, while Kleybanova set the record right when she beat second seed Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2 for a quarter-final meeting against Azarenka.

Yanina Wickmayer nearly continued where she left off on Wednesday with the dumping of fifth seed Li Na, but this time the Belgian fell short losing to ninth seed Shahar Peer 6-3, 4-6, 1-6, who now sets up a possible run-in with Wozniacki.

RESULTS:
(Singles Third Round) Jelena Jankovic bt Kaia Kanepi 2-6, 6-3, 7-5; Agnieszka Radwanska bt Marion Bartoli 6-3, 6-2; Samantha Stosur bt Patty Schnyder 6-3, 6-4; Svetlana Kuznetsova bt Francesca Schiavone 1-6, 6-0, 7-5; Alisa Kleybanova bt Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-2; Shahar Peer bt Yanina Wickmayer 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Flavia Pennetta bt Victoria Azarenka 6-3, 6-7, 6-4; Caroline Wozniacki bt Ayumi Morita 6-1, 6-0.

(Doubles Second Round) Kveta Peschke/Katarina Srebotnik bt Vera Dushevina/Shuai Peng 7-5, 6-2; Sania Mirza/Elena Vesnina bt Alexandra Dulgheru/Selima Sfar 6-2, 4-6, 1-0; Liezel Huber/Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez bt Jarmila Groth/Klara Zakopalova 6-4, 6-4; Svetlana Kuznetsova/Vera Zvonareva bt Yung-Jan Chan/Jie Zhang 6-3, 7-5; Lisa Raymond/Samantha Stosur bt Monica Niculescu/Shahar Peer 7-5, 5-7, 1-0.

Who would you like to see battle it out in the finals? Who is your favourite to win? What do you think of the players' performances you've seen so far? Tell us by posting a comment below.