Jankovic leads Serbia into Fed Cups World Group
Tennis newsJelena Jankovic helped Serbia to a 4-0 victory over Spain on Sunday that secured its place in the Fed Cups World Group for the first time.
Jankovic overcame a cold to defeat Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 and establish an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the playoff, knocking five-time Fed Cup champion Spain out of the competitions top group for the first time.
This is something we have wanted for a long time, Jankovic said. I am very, very happy that I was able to get the win today to secure the win for our team.
Ana Jovanovic beat Maria-Jose Martinez Sanchez 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (0) in a meaningless rubber to complete the sweep, with Nuria Llagostera and Lourdes Dominguez leading Jovanovic and Aleksandra Krunic 6-2, 1-0 in doubles before play was abandoned due to rain and darkness.
Jankovic dominated as Medina Garrigues had 19 unforced errors in the opening set, including four straight in the ninth game.
Medina Garrigues broke Jankovic in the second set while leading 4-3, and then held to send the match into the deciding set. Jankovic then led 3-1 and 5-3 before serving out for the win.
When I won that last point, we were all so happy. We jumped on each other and just started screaming, Jankovic said. It was a great experience.
Besides Jankovic, the Serbs also have 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic on the team. Both players won their singles matches Saturday.
Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 8:15 pm and is filed under Tennis news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
