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A “clogged-up” Jelena Jankovic has refused to blame ill health for her upset loss in the third round to speedy Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine on Friday.
Jankovic was never in the hunt as Bondarenko matched the eighth-seed’s power and chased down more balls to progress to the fourth round with a 6-2 6-3 win at Hisense Arena.
“Unfortunately today really wasn't my day. You know, I was hitting some balls short, and then some balls I went for maybe a little bit too much. I made a lot of errors that I shouldn't have made,” Jankovic explained after the match.
Bondarenko started strongly, breaking Jankovic in the opening game. But the world No.8 struck back in the fourth game, breaking Bondarenko after the latter let a 40-0 lead slip and handed the game to Jankovic after a series of unforced errors.
More unforced errors turned the momentum in Bondarenko’s favour as Jankovic missed a simple volley on the way to dropping serve. At the change of ends, Bondarenko focused on holding serve while Jankovic reached for the tissues.
Bondarenko didn’t look back as she snatched the next three games and the opening set 6-2.
The second set was a similar affair, with Jankovic struggling to keep the ball in play at times. Simple errors were the order of the day as the Serbian gifted several break point chances to her opponent with relatively easy misses.
Bondarenko was quick to swoop on Jankovic’s offerings and broke her in the third, fifth and ninth games to take the second set 6-3 and power into the fourth round.
Forty unforced errors for Jankovic was just too many, something the Serbian agreed with in her post-match interview.
“I made a lot of errors, especially in the beginning. I thought especially in the beginning of the first I thought I had some opportunities, and she came up with some good shots from the defence.
“But overall I struggled. I didn't serve well, and my opponent played really well. But I didn't raise my level of play and couldn't really find my rhythm in my game today.”
Despite her early exit from the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Jankovic was surprisingly calm about not making it to the second week here after her semi-final effort of 2008 and fourth-round appearances in 2007 and 2009.
“It's just [the] beginning of the year. It's no big deal. It's, you know, only my second tournament of the year,” she said.
Jankovic will rely on her positive outlook to get back to the top spot, which she briefly occupied in 2008.
“I just have to stay positive, keep my head up high. Just, you know, I know what I have to work on. I feel like my game is improving, and I feel like I really can raise my level and be up there. And my goal is to come back to the top again.”
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