CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP)—No. 2 seed Jelena Jankovic wanted a workout in her opening match Tuesday at the Family Circle Cup. She almost got knocked out of the tournament.
Jankovic shook off a slow start to advance to the round of 16 with a 2-6, 6-4, 6-3 over unseeded Edina Gallovits.
It was Jankovic’s first match on clay this season and she struggled from the opening serve. The Serbian, ranked seventh in the world, put five shots into the net in her first three games.
But she pulled herself together after the first set, breaking the Romanian in the second set. She wouldn’t trail on serve the rest of the hard-fought match, despite screaming at herself a couple of times after missing shots. She didn’t smile until Gallovits put her shot during a long rally into the net on match point.
“I think it’s a good thing I played a tough match like that because it gives you confidence and you get fitter and fitter for the next rounds,” said Jankovic, who gets a day off before her round of 16 match Thursday.
Gallovits, who came into the match ranked 127th in the world, was able to place her shots well in the first two sets. But by the third set of the two-hour match, balls that were just in suddenly started going wide and long.
Gallovits said she tired mentally, not physically.
“I feel like I pushed too much when I shouldn’t have and I didn’t go for it when I had it,” Gallovits said. “It was hard to find the median in the third set.”
The two only played on clay once before—back in 2003 in the French Open. Jankovic didn’t remember that match, but said she won’t forget this one.
“She didn’t have anything to lose. She can just play freely and go after her shots,” said Jankovic, who won the tournament in 2007, and along with 2006 winner Nadia Petrova are the only former champions in the field.
There were two upsets Tuesday. No. 11 Virginie Razzano of France became the first seeded player to lose, falling to Monique Adamczak 4-6, 6-0, 6-2. No. 15 Melinda Czink of Hungary fell later in the day to Michaella Krajicek of the Netherlands 7-6 (9), 6-3.
No. 4 seed Samantha Stosur, No. 7 seed Vera Zvonareva, No. 10 seed Elena Vesnina and No. 14 seed Vera Dushevina all advanced in straight set wins, while No. 12 seed Aleksandra Wozniak needed three sets to move on to the round of 16.
In the featured match Tuesday night, American teen sensation No. 13 seed Melanie Oudin beat the tournament’s oldest player, 35-year-old unseeded American Jill Craybas, 6-3, 6-1.
Last year, the 18-year-old Oudin had to win two matches just to qualify for the Charleston tournament, then won two matches in the draw, including knocking off the ninth seed, to make the round of 16 and rise to No. 151 in the world. She would go on to make the round of 16 at Wimbledon and the quarterfinals of the U.S. Open and enters this year’s Family Circle Cup as the world’s 36th ranked player.
“I really love Charleston, getting to play here. I did so well last year as a qualifier. It was one of my big steps, I think,” Oudin said. “Everything started to click for me here.”
Tournament organizers figured she’d be a draw at night and it worked. Fans cheered nearly every shot as the 18-year-old in her neon yellow top and shoelaces breezed to an easy win. She showed poise beating back all five break points she faced as she advanced to the round of 32, where she will face qualifier Sophie Ferguson.
“Lately I’ve been up a little and then letting my opponent get back in the match,” Oudin said. “So being able to close out that game and then playing a really good second set really, really helped me a lot.”