Jankovic is the highest seeded player in the tournament but said she won’t allow that to add to the pressure of winning here for the first time.
“I don’t really think about that,” Jankovic said. “I just think about my game and what I have to do on the court. I don’t want to put too much pressure on myself.”
Former world No. 1 Jankovic will meet France’s Marion Bartoli in the quarter-finals today. Fourteenth-seeded Bartoli recovered from a set down to defeat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia, 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Jankovic has lost to Bartoli twice this year, at the Australian Open and at Stanford.
Magdalena Rybarikova defeated Aleksandra Wozniak 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
■MALAYSIA OPEN
AFP, KUALA LUMPUR
Fifth seed Gael Monfils and fellow Frenchman Richard Gasquet both overcame jetlag to bolt into the second round of the Malaysian Open yesterday with straight sets success.
Monfils, trying to back up the title he won last weekend in Metz, France before boarding a flight to Kuala Lumpur, dispatched Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan 7-6 (7/3), 7-6 (7/2).
The unseeded Gasquet was relentless against Romanian Victor Crivoi 6-1, 6-2. The No. 47 moved into a struggle for the quarter-finals when he plays in the second round against Joacham Johansson after the Swede upset eighth seed Lleyton Hewitt.
Gasquet said he had to fight through his fatigue after the flight from Europe.
“I played a good match despite waking up at 2am,” he said. “I haven’t adapted to the time change, but I hope tonight I can sleep better.”
Monfils spent just over 90 minutes in getting past Istomin, ranked 94th. The French seed, ranked 13th, improved to 29-13 on the season as he next faces Argentine Martin Vassello Arguello.
Monfils, 23, fired nine aces in his victory over Istomin.
Later yesterday, Mikhail Youzhny of Russia beat Marcos Baghdatis of Cyprus 6-2, 6-3, while Robin Soderling of Sweden defeated Brendan Evans of the US 6-1, 6-1. Nikolay Davydenko of Russia struggled to beat Taylor Dent of the US 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 (4).
Second seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain is due to play today.
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