Jelena Jankovic overcame windy conditions and a losing head-to-head record to defeat Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday in round-robin play at the WTA’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships.
In other matches, Venus Williams beat second-ranked Dinara Safina 7-5, 6-3 and ninth-ranked Vera Zvonareva defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-2, 6-3 in an all-Russian matchup.
Jankovic displayed the composure and consistency that have ensured she will end the year as the top-ranked player. Her Serbian compatriot alternated between spectacular winners and a far greater number of errors, drilling a backhand into the net on match point.
PHOTO: EPA
Ivanovic went into the match with a 6-1 record against Jankovic, with the last victory in three sets on her way to the French Open title in June.
This time, Jankovic took charge early and showed she is a different player in terms of stroke production and mental strength.
“I’ve improved so much since the last time we played,” said Jankovic, who has not won a major but established her late-season dominance with three consecutive titles at Beijing, Stuttgart and Moscow. “My game has gone to another level.”
PHOTO: EPA
Jankovic often smiles during play, but she showed little emotion in an efficient performance on a purple, outdoor hard court, a change for top players who are emerging from an indoor season. Gusts swirled around the stadium at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex, and Jankovic adjusted her shot selection while Ivanovic stuck to aggressive play that allowed little margin for error.
“It’s the one who stays focused [who wins],” Jankovic said. “You need to use a little bit more of the brain.”
Ivanovic paused late in the second set with dizziness caused by dehydration in humid conditions.
PHOTO: EPA
“I just felt so weak,” said Ivanovic, who had a string of early-round losses linked to injury after her success at Roland Garros.
She won a title last month at Linz, Austria, which restored some confidence. However, she was unable to repeat that form.
“The conditions here are completely different,” Ivanovic said. “It’s also a little bit slower, so it’s very hard to make a winner.”
Williams trailed 5-2 in the first set, but turned the match around with five straight games. The startling shift in momentum shook Safina’s confidence, and the Wimbledon champion had less trouble in the second set.
“I was able to make the adjustment,” Williams said of her first-set recovery. “There were some tough games there, but they kept going my way.”
Williams said she probably wouldn’t turn on a television to watch coverage of the US presidential elections.
“I’m not a super-political person,” said Williams, a Jehovah’s Witness who does not vote for religious reasons.
Like Jankovic, Zvonareva seemed more comfortable with the wind, as well as a noisy crowd, against Kuznetsova, who often yelled in frustration after mistakes.
“The conditions are very difficult, especially since we were playing indoors for the past two months,” Zvonareva said.
On the second day of play yesterday, Ivanovic was to face Zvonareva, Venus Williams was to play Elena Dementieva and Safina was up against Serena Williams.
The top eight players in the world are divided into two round-robin groups. The top two in each group will advance to an elimination stage.
■ DAVIS CUP
AP, BUENOS AIRES
Juan Martin del Potro, David Nalbandian, Agustin Calleri and Jose Acasuso are tasked with winning Argentina’s first Davis Cup title in the home final against Spain this month.
Acasuso was the only surprise in the team named by captain Alberto Mancini in a statement from the Argentine Tennis Association (ATA) on Tuesday.
He replaced the more experienced Guillermo Canas from the team which beat Russia in the semi-finals in September.
Neither Mancini nor the ATA gave reasons in the statement.
Mancini said last month he was worried about picking the best doubles team, as he didn’t want to load Nalbandian with three matches in three days, a move which didn’t pay off against Russia.
Calleri and Acasuso could play the doubles, or one of them could partner Nalbandian in Mar del Plata.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB