Kaia Kanepi knocks out fourth seed on way to fourth round
Published:Jelena Jankovic’s bid for a first Grand Slam title was blown off court by a combination of Kaia Kanepi and strong, blustery winds at the US Open.
Kanepi coped best with winds gusting up to 25mph in New York, the 31st seed from Estonia winning 6-2 7-6 (7/1) to book her place in the fourth round at Flushing Meadows.
The 25-year-old, who reached the quarter-finals at Wimbledon this year, served for the match at 5-3 in the second set but lost her serve twice in the next three games to give fourth seed Jankovic the chance to force a decider.
However, Kanepi quickly regained her composure to break back and force a tie-break which she won for the loss of just one point.
Jankovic, who lost to Serena Williams in the US Open final in 2008, said: “The wind was really tough, I had a really hard time hitting the balls, they were going all over the place.
“The wind was really strong and she handled these kind of conditions a lot better than I did.
“You hit the ball one direction, it goes another, you’re just getting ready to hit the ball and it just moves away from you – It was really hard out there.
“But like I said, she handled the wind a lot better than I did.”
Kanepi heads to the fourth round of the US Open for the first time in her career where she will face Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.
However with Kim Clijsters and Caroline Wozniacki once again winning easily in their third round matches, it’s looking ominous for the rest of the women’s draw.
Clijsters just shades favouritism over Wozniacki, 3/1 to 7/2, but it’s hard to find anyone that can stop these two from meeting in the final.
Kanepi will need to continue to upset the odds if she is to make the final. See the full US Open tennis betting market here.
