Jankovic, Kuznetsova, Dementieva reach third round in Flushing
Tennis Betting Lines
08/27/2008 -
Flushing Meadows, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Former world No. 1 Jelena Jankovic,
former champion and last year's runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova, and Olympic
gold medalist Elena Dementieva were a trio of second-round winners Wednesday
at the U.S. Open.
The second-seeded Jankovic went the distance to sneak past Swede Sofia
Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5 in 2 hours, 45 minutes.
Jankovic, who held the No. 1 ranking for one week just two weeks ago, appeared
to be cruising on Day 3, up a set and serving for the match at 5-4 in the
second, but Arvidsson had other plans.
The Swede won a second-set tiebreak despite falling behind 0-3 in the extra
session. Arvidsson won six straight points to grab a 6-3 advantage in the
tiebreak and would force a third set three points later.
Jankovic ultimately prevailed in a very tight third set, and converted on her
second match point of the day when Arvidsson misfired long on one final two-
handed backhand.
The 23-year-old Jankovic piled up nine double faults, while Arvidsson uncorked
54 unforced errors and had her serve broken eight times. The Swede broke the
Serb's serve on six occasions.
Jankovic will face Chinese Jie Zheng in the third round.
The third-seeded Kuznetsova, meanwhile, was tested in the first set before
cruising to a 7-6 (7-3), 6-1 decision against Romanian Sorana Cirstea at the
USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
The three-time major finalist Kuznetsova captured her lone major title here in
Flushing four years ago and lost to Belgian Justine Henin in last year's Big
Apple finale.
Kuznetsova will meet 28th-seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik in the third
round, as Srebotnik advanced with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Austrian Yvonne
Meusburger.
Fifth-seeded Dementieva ran her current winning streak to eight matches with
a 6-2, 6-1 pasting of France's Pauline Parmentier. Dementieva, who lost to
Kuznetsova in the 2004 all-Russian U.S. Open finale, is fresh off her gold
medal-winning performance in Beijing two weeks ago.
Up next for the two-time major runner-up Dementieva will be Britain's Anne
Keothavong.
A big surprise came when Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis ousted eighth-seeded
Russian Vera Zvonareva 6-3, 6-3. The Top-10 star Zvonareva was a bronze
medalist in Beijing.
Also winning Wednesday were former Open champ Lindsay Davenport of the United
States and 12th-seeded Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli. Davenport, a three-time
major champion, including a U.S. Open title back in 1998, bested Alisa
Kleybanova of Russia, 7-5, 6-3, while Bartoli downed Virginia Ruano Pascual of
Spain, 6-4, 6-2.
Fourteenth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus had little trouble with Czech
Iveta Benesova, 6-2, 6-3 and No. 15, Swiss veteran Patty Schnyder, cruised
into the round of 32 with a 6-3, 6-3 pasting of 17-year-old Russian Anastasia
Pavlyuchenkova.
Meanwhile, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, the 21st seed who titled in New
Haven last week, trounced Italian Maria Elena Camerin, 6-1, 6-2, and
No. 29, Austrian Sybille Bammer, disposed of France's Aravane Rezai in
straight sets, 6-1, 7-5.
Mild upsets came when Keothavong took out 25th-seeded Italian Francesca
Schiavone 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 and Zheng dismissed 26th-seeded Spaniard Anabel Medina
Garrigues 6-1, 6-4.
Additional second-round wins came for Slovakian Magdalena Rybarikova, Chinese
Na Li and Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
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Big Ten Conference odds
Teams that should be in: Michigan State, Indiana
Work left to do: Illinois, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa
 Behind the big two, the pecking order might be in a bit of flux. Has Michigan State passed Indiana after handling the Hoosiers in East Lansing? Where is Illinois in that mix? What looked like a four-big league last week could be morphing into five -- and even six is not unthinkable at this point if everything breaks right.
Should be in:
Michigan State [21-8 (8-6), RPI: 20, SOS: 15] The Spartans made it four-for-four on the homestand, a gigantic accomplishment that leaves them in extremely good shape. MSU is only 1-6 on the road and is at Michigan and at Wisconsin to close things out, meaning the date with the Wolverines on Tuesday looms very, very large. Beating Texas early will hold up well, as will the rout of Bradley and the win over BYU, but will 8-8 be enough? It very well could be, as the computer numbers are good, but why chance it?
Indiana [18-9 (8-6), RPI: 24, SOS: 32] Hmm ... good thing the last two are at Northwestern and home to Penn State, because IU might want to get both to feel completely safe after dropping its third in the last four, fading after halftime at Michigan State. Who knew the best nonconference win would be over Southern Illinois, which is a gift that keeps on giving for the Hoosiers. The win over Wisconsin also looks good on the mantel.
Work left to do:
Illinois [21-9 (9-6), RPI: 31, SOS: 25] A good performance at Penn State leaves the Illini in pretty good shape. Can they go to Iowa and take care of business to really look on their way? That's a huge game, as there is a possible cluster of teams that will end at 9-7. Illinois beat Bradley, but has lost to Xavier. A 9-7 mark and a semifinals trip in Chicago could be enough with the computer profile hanging in there, but it would be better not to mess around, clinching at least a tie for third.
Purdue [18-10 (7-7), RPI: 47, SOS: 28] Couldn't get it done at Iowa, but did win at Northwestern to put 9-7 squarely in sight. Where does that leave the Boilermakers, though? Even if they beat Minnesota and Northwestern at home, that won't help the computer numbers. Nonconference wins over Virginia, DePaul and Oklahoma are solid, but not spectacular. The Boilers very well might need an upset in the B10 quarters to have a legit claim.
Michigan [19-10 (7-7), RPI: 55, SOS: 53] Well, Michigan did what it needed to do, winning at Minnesota to take control of its fate. The Wolverines have Michigan State and an already-wrapped-up-the-league Ohio State at home to close, so the chances are there. Win both and we can talk. There is no marquee win yet in the profile, and the Wolverines were splattered in several games against name opponents. A mediocre computer profile fueled by a lack of road wins isn't helping, either.
Iowa [16-12 (8-6), RPI: 80, SOS: 64] For the sake of being complete, we'll add Iowa, this season's Stanford. It's plausible that the Hawkeyes could get to 10-6 (at Penn State, vs. Illinois left), but where does that leave them after a gruesome nonconference performance where the best win was over ... Toledo? Iowa State? Cornell?? If they get to 10-6, we can start to look at what they need to do in the B10 tourney, although my gut sense is that they would need to make the final and have knocked off Ohio State or Wisconsin on the way to have any real claim.
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