Jelena First Into Quarters; Elena, Patty To Clash Again

She drew arguably the most in-form non-Top 16 seed in the fourth round, and aside from some early trouble, she passed with flying colors. Jelena Jankovic dropped the first set but then steamrolled past Caroline Wozniacki at the US Open on Sunday, becoming the first player to reach the quarterfinals of the season's final Grand Slam tournament.
 
Jankovic, at No.2 the highest seed remaining in Flushing Meadows, seemed uneasy early as Wozniacki belted huge groundstrokes and ran down anything thrown at her; but from 2-all in the second set she got her groove back, winning 10 of the last 11 games of the match to beat the No.21 seed, who had won 15 of her last 16 matches, 36 62 61.
 
"In the first set she played quite solid. She put all these balls back. She didn't make any errors. I was the one who was all over the place," Jankovic said. "I tried to stay composed and calm. I had to change something. In the second set I started playing a bit more aggressively from one side; I was hitting the ball harder from the other. I was putting more spin, too. I did the smart things and it worked out. I cruised through after that. I'm happy to get through."
 
"I started out well. I played my own game. I played aggressive. But from the second set I got defensive," Wozniacki said. "Even though I was hitting the ball it wasn't going. I felt a bit tired. Jelena is No.2 for a reason. She took advantage and she started dictating the points. I just didn't feel like I could overpower her today. She was just better than me today. She's playing really well."
 
It was almost a mirror image of their only previous encounter, where the feisty Wozniacki routed Jankovic in the first set until eventually falling, 26 64 62, in the third round of Wimbledon two months ago.
 
Wozniacki cracked the Top 20 on the very first day of the US Open, following a scintillating summer that included becoming the first Dane in Sony Ericsson WTA Tour history to win a singles title, doing so at Stockholm, then following it up with a title run at New Haven. Having begun the year outside the Top 50, she is now ranked No.18 in the world. She remained positive about her US Open experience.
 
"I'm really happy about the way I've been progressing; this has really been a breakthrough year for me," Wozniacki said. "This was a good tournament for me. There's always something happening here. Everyone is screaming and yelling; the atmosphere is great. We're in New York. There couldn't be a better place!"
 
"She's getting better and better and it's showing in her results," Jankovic said on the Dane. "It's not easy to be in the Top 20 at that stage. She's very young, only 18 years old. She has a lot of potential. She goes for her shots but is also very consistent, and it's really tough to play someone like that."
 
Next up for Jankovic will be No.29 seed Sybille Bammer, a 76(3) 06 64 winner over No.12 seed Marion Bartoli later in the day. Bammer is now the first mother to make it to the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam since Laura Arraya Gildemeister made it that far at Wimbledon in 1991 - 17 years ago.
 
"This year I haven't played her, but last year I played her many, many times - I think three times in a row around this time of year," Jankovic said of Bammer, against whom she is 5-1 lifetime. "I know how to play against her. She's an experienced player. She runs very well. She's quite solid. But I will do my best."

Also reaching the quarterfinals on Sunday were Elena Dementieva and Patty Schnyder, who will now play for the 17th time, with Dementieva winning nine of their first 16 matches. The No.15-seeded Schnyder was the first to advance, rallying back to defeat No.28 seed Katarina Srebotnik, 46 63 63; No.5 seed Dementieva followed her into the final eight in the feature night match on Arthur Ashe, beating a somewhat erratic Li Na, 64 61.
 
"We've played lots of times against each other through our careers," Dementieva said on her looming match with Schnyder. "She's a very unique player. She's a lefty, first of all, and has great feel. It's never easy to play against her. But I've got experience playing against Patty, so hopefully it's going to help me."