Lindsay Davenport the comeback mom struggled through a rough opening set yesterday against Elena Dementieva before taking charge to win the match and book a spot in the semi-finals at the China Open.
Davenport on Saturday will take on second seed Jelena Jankovic, in a grudge match just over a week after the Serb imploded in Bali, sending the American into the semis of a tournament that she eventually won.
The former number one -- now firmly on the comeback trail after a year away from the game -- battled through the first set with Dementieva, which lasted for more than one hour, losing her own serve three times.
PHOTO: AFP
But once the Californian, who gave birth to son Jagger just three months ago, put her game into high gear, it was all over for the Russian, who was broken six times during the 90-minute match won by Davenport, 7-6 (7/1).
Dementieva, the fourth seed here, did herself no favours, giving the American too many free points with her notoriously dodgy serve by striking 12 double faults.
In contrast to her second-round 6-0, 6-0 win over Spain's Virginia Ruano Pascual, Jankovic also struggled through the first set on Friday against Japan's Akiko Morigami, finally claiming a 6-3, 7-5 win after 100 minutes.
The Serb, who has four titles this season, found herself fighting against the persistent Morigami, ranked 56th in the world, who claimed her career-first trophy earlier this year in Prague.
Jankovic converted on only seven of 16 break points while losing her own serve five times in the patchy performance.
Davenport, a former number one and three-time Grand Slam winner who is testing the waters for a possible full-time comeback next year, has a career 4-0 record against Jankovic, the world No. 3.
Davenport, currently ranked 154, lost in the quarter-finals here a year ago, and then hung her rackets up, announcing her "retirement" and saying that she wanted to concentrate on starting a family.
But since returning to the singles tour last week with Jagger in tow, Davenport has had a great run.
"I really like my life on the road, I feel more fulfilled," Davenport said. "Every day after the match, I go and look after him. It helps me to concentrate more on the court. The China Open will be my last tournament in Asia -- then I plan to have a rest at home."
In the day's concluding quarter-final, Amelie Mauresmo, the third seed, was to face China's Peng Shuai, with the winner to go against Agnes Szavay in the semis, after the Hungarian beat Maria-Emilia Salerni 6-2, 6-4.
Igor Andreev put Russia 1-0 up in their Davis Cup semi-final tie after dispatching Germany's Tommy Haas in straight sets yesterday.
The 24-year-old Andreev, ranked 37th in the world, won 6-2, 6-2, 6-2 in two hours, two minutes. It was his first ever head-to-head meeting with Haas, who is ranked 11th.
Doping fears prevented former US Open champion Emma Raducanu from treating insect bites on the eve of the Australian Open, she said, with players increasingly wary about ingesting contaminated substances. The British player was speaking in the wake of high-profile doping cases involving Iga Swiatak and Jannik Sinner. “I would say all of us are probably quite sensitive to what we take on board, what we use,” the 22-year-old said, recalling an incident on Friday. “I got really badly bitten by, I don’t know what, like ants, mosquitoes, something. I’m allergic, I guess,” she added. The bites “flared up and swelled up really a
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