The end of a fairytale

This time, the lead was too big to overcome. Canadian Stéphanie Dubois bowed out to second seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-2 Thursday afternoon in third round action of the Rogers Cup presented by National Bank.
 
Dubois, ranked 122nd in the world, had an exceptional run this week, defeating Belarusian Olga Govortsova and upsetting 13th seeded Russian Maria Kirilenko.
 
Against Jankovic, ranked second in the world and just a few points away from being No.1, Dubois held her own. The first set of the one hour and 16 minute match had just one break of serve – in the sixth game. The Laval native committed one double fault at an inopportune moment, allowing Jankovic a break point, which she immediately took advantage of.
 
Dubois, combative and agile, frequently pushed the Serb into the corners, serving the balls deep and keeping up with the heavy pace imposed by her rival.
 
The second set started off identical to the first. Both players held serve until it was 2-2, at which point Jankovic managed the determining break. Then, the favourite picked up the pace, using her talent and experience to take advantage of Dubois’ nerves. The Canadian had two break points at 2-5 but was unable to capitalize.
 
Jankovic moves on to the quarters where she’ll take on surprising youngster Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. But the battle isn’t over before it has begun since Cibulkova has been on fire all week. The giant killer has already knocked off fifth seed Elena Dementieva and No.12 Nadia Petrova.
 
In other action, Russian Dinara Safina, the seventh seed, proved that her recent string of success is no fluke, easily downing ninth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland. In front of an experienced player known for her creative and versatile tennis, Safina had to take risks to hit winners. And she did a great job at it – keeping her opponent off balance and on the defensive at all times.
 
In the quarter-finals, Safina will take on Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, the fourth seed, who was one of her victims en route to the French Open finals this year.
 
Tenth seed Marion Bartoli of France edged No.6 Anna Chakvetadze of Russia 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(4) to advance to the quarters. The hotly contested match, played in two legs, lasted three hours and four minutes. In the first leg, the Russian was up 6-4, 5-4 and was serving for the match. That’s when Bartoli broke, and followed with two more breaks to walk away with the second set.
 
The final set could have gone either way but it was only through wear and tear that Bartoli got the better of her rival. The Frenchwoman takes on Japan’s Ai Sugiyama in the quarter-finals.