Jankovic & Shvedova complete the final 8 in Paris.

 Jelena Jankovic eased past Slovakia’s Daniela Hantuchova 6-4 6-2 to reach the quarter-finals of the French Open on Monday.

Jankovic, a semi-finalist in Paris in 2007 and 2008, was rarely troubled by the 23rd seed during her one-hour and 25-minute stroll on Centre Court.

The former world number one, looking to clinch her maiden grand slam tournament, wrapped up the win on her first match point when Hantuchova misfired a service return.

Jankovic will next Yaroslava Shvedova who defeated the ‘other’ Aussie Jarmila Groth in straight sets 6-4,6-3. Shvedova who’s currently ranked #36 has played Jankovic 3 times on hard courts, and Jankovic holds a 2-1 edge.

JJ gets revenge for an earlier loss to Shvedova.

 Jelena Jankovic overcame a determined challenge from Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan before taking her place in the second round of the Kremlin Cup in Moscow.

Former world number one Jankovic lost the second set before her class shone through in the third as she claimed a 6-4 5-7 6-1 first-round victory.

Canada’s Aleksandra Wozniak’s progress was easier, as Italy’s Sara Errani was forced to retire due to a shoulder injury after losing the first set 6-1.

Vera Dushevina was a 3-6 6-2 6-1 winner over qualifier Galina Voskoboeva of Kazakhstan, while Alisa Kleybanova, her fellow Russian and Bulgarian qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova were also first-round winners.

Sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia was a 6-4 6-3 winner over in the opening Austria’s Daniel Koellerer in the men’s event.

Fabrice Santoro, the French seventh seed, came from a set down before clinching a 4-6 6-2 6-2 win over Russian wildcard Andrey Kuznetsov.

Argentina’s Martin Vassallo Arguello, the eighth seed, was defeated 7-5 6-3 by Kazakhstan’s Andrey Golubev.

Also reaching the second round were Wayne Odesnik, qualifiers Sergiy Stakhovsky and Mikhail Kukushkin, and Christophe Rochus of Belgium.

Shvedova reaches the semi final in Tashkent.

Kazakhstan’s Yaroslava Shvedova sent Romania’s Monica Niculescu crashing out of the Tashkent Open to reach the semi-final stage.

Top seed Shvedova had to dig deep for victory, saving three match points in the second set against the sixth seed before easing away to a 6-7 (3/7) 7-5 6-2 win.

Next up for Shvedova is a meeting with Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan, who advanced with a 6-1 6-4 win over fifth-seeded Swiss Stefanie Voegele.

Israel’s Shahar Peer, seeded second, will line up in the other semi-final tie after defeating Russia’s Alexandra Panova 6-4 6-4.

Her opponent will be fourth seed Olga Govortsova of Belarus, who booked her place in the last four.

Jankovic falls to Yaroslava Shvedova…remember this name!

Jelena Jankovic was the latest star to tumble out of the US Open on Thursday when the women’s fifth seed was beaten by Yaroslava Shvedova in a final set tie-break at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

Last year’s finalist from Serbia followed fourth seed Elena Dementieva out of the last grand slam of the year, beaten 6-3, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (8-6) by the world number 55 from Kazakhstan. The 21 year old, formerly from Moscow, may not be as well know as other young players, but she has one of the most complete games of any player on the tour. She may not win the 2009 US Open, but she has a very bright future ahead of her.

Having followed Melanie Oudin’s upset of Dementieva on court, Jankovic looked uncomfortable from the start and was broken early in the opening set by the aggressive Shvedova.

The Serbian did not offer much resistance at 5-3 down as she sent down a forehand that went long to allow Shvedova to break again and take the first set.

It was not looking good in the second set either as Jankovic went 4-2 down when Shvedova broke her serve but the Serbian broke back in the next game.

At 5-4 Jankovic served for the set, racing to 40-0 before Shvedova scrambled back into the game to break serve and stay in the set.

The see-saw nature of the set continued when Jankovic broke back again in the 11th game and at 6-5 up she once again had the opportunity to serve to level the match.

The Serb again gave herself set points at 40-15 before letting the 21-year-old back in and Shvedova again broke serve to force a tiebreak.

Jankovic moved to set point at 6-3 but again showed she was capable of throwing it away when she served a double fault. The next point, though, saw the fifth seed finally get it done and she squared the match at 1-1.

Having done that, Jankovic promptly coughed up the initiative when Shvedova broke her serve in the third game of the final set. It took three more games to get back on track but then Shvedova showed she still had victory in mind by breaking back in game nine to take a 5-4 lead.

Serving for the match, Shvedova faltered, giving Jankovic a way back in to the set which she willingly took.

The pace was unrelenting as the rivals thumped balls back and forth from the baseline but Shvedova showed a deft touch in luring Jankovic to the net and then lobbing her to move towards a double break point in the 11th game.

It was pure good fortune that earned her the break, however, as she saw a forehand clip the net cord and roll over for a the winning point, leaving her to serve once more for the match at 6-5.

And once again, Shvedova stumbled, netting a straightforward forehand at 30-30 to hand Jankovic the first of three break points on the way to another break of serve as the match went to a decisive tie-break.

Some loose play from both Shvedova’s forehand and backhand handed Jankovic two match points. The Kazakh saved the first on her own serve and Jankovic lost the second on her serve with a looping mis-hit beyond the baseline to leave the score at 6-6.

Shvedoba then turned up the pressure, controlling a long rally off the Jankovic serve, she finished off with a forehand winner to give her match point on her own serve.

She finished it in style, sending Jankovic crashing out with an ace.