No. 7 ranked Jelena Jankovic of Serbia has reached the Final of the 2010 WTA Internazionali BNL d’Italia in Rome.
Jankovic posted a dominating Quarterfinal win over Venus Williams, who put on an embarrassing performance. The match was over almost before it started, as Jankovic claimed victory in two easy sets, 6-0, 6-1. Jankovic couldn’t miss, and the only question from the other side of the court was, would Williams spray it long, wide, or into the net?
Next up in the Semifinals for Jankovic was the other Williams sister, Serena. With Serena out to avenge her sister’s loss, Jankovic had to dig down deep. Williams took the first set 6-4, then lost the 2nd set 3-6. In the third and deciding set, Williams served for the match twice, and was broken both times, wasting one match point when she hit a backhand long at 5-4. Williams then jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the tiebreaker but missed four consecutive baseline shots to hand Jankovic the match.
It was Williams’ first tournament back from a knee injury. She doesn’t seem to have lost much of her form, but perhaps just a little of the match toughness. When it came down to putting it away, she wasn’t able to do it. Jankovic was able to hang in and come up with the victory.
Jankovic is proving that clay is a good surface for her, as the warm up continues for the French Open. Jankovic has reached the semifinals of the French Open twice, in 08, and 07, and was eliminated in the 4th round in 09. Perhaps this is her year to win her first Grand Slam.
