JOIN USKanepi takes out wayward Jankovic
The fourth-seeded Jankovic was unable to control her serve and groundstrokes in the gusting winds inside Arthur Ashe Stadium as Kanepi held her game together to reach the last 16 in New York for the first time.
"The conditions were really, really tough," former world number one Jankovic said. "I had a really hard time hitting the balls and obviously they were going all over the place.
One point, when Jankovic hit the edge of her frame with a serve and the ball shot straight up in the air and into the stands, summed up her problems. By contrast, the 25-year-old Kanepi, who has climbed more than 100 places in the rankings since May thanks largely to a quarterfinal run at Wimbledon, looked confident.
After dominating the first set, she broke the Jankovic serve to lead 5-3 in the second only to falter and allow Jankovic back into the match. The Serbian then broke to lead 6-5 and serve for the set but crumbled as Kanepi broke back and then played an almost flawless tiebreak to win it 7-1 and seal victory.
Kanepi said the conditions were not the only factor in dropping her serve at 5-3. "I don't think it was because of the wind, I think it was because of the head," she said. "In these situations, most of us start to think too much."
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark outclassed Chan Yung-Jan of Taiwan 6-1, 6-0 to storm into the fourth round. With gusting winds making play comical at times, last year's runner-up Wozniacki was too consistent for her less experienced opponent and wrapped it up in 73 minutes.
The pair exchanged service breaks in the opening two games but from then on it was all Wozniacki as she cruised to a third straight one-sided victory at Flushing Meadows. The Dane has lost just three games in total on her way through to the last 16, where she will play 14th seed and former champion Maria Sharapova, who whitewashed American wildcard Beatrice Capra 6-0, 6-0.
Sharapova, in the last 16 here for the first time in four years, showed no mercy against her teenage opponent, racing to a horribly lopsided victory in just 73 minutes despite playing in near gale force winds at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
The Russian, who won the US Open in 2006, was ousted last year by American teenager Melanie Oudin in one of the biggest upsets of the tournament but made no mistakes this time around.
Big-serving Swede Robin Soderling beat Dutchman Thiemo de Bakker 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 for a place in the fourth round. The fifth seed, runner-up at the last two French Opens, was too consistent for world number 48 de Bakker as he wrapped up victory in one hour 42 minutes.
Soderling broke in the second game of the match on his way to the first set and never looked back despite the difficult conditions. The Swede will now play 21st seed Albert Montanes of Spain, who advanced when Japan's Kei Nishikori pulled out early in the second set of their match because of a groin injury.
Nadal wins
Playing his second-round match against Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan at the Arthur Ashe Stadium on Friday, Nadal produced an extraordinary display of serving.
It was a high-quality match of power-hitting from both players but he never once lost his serve, which flew fastest across the net at 134 mph (216 kph). Nadal won 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5. Nadal’s victory kept him on course for a semifinal showdown with Britain's Andy Murray.
Murray's second-round opponent on Friday was an unorthodox Jamaican called Dustin Brown. The Briton knew little about him but was warned to expect the unexpected. It was good advice but not a great contest, the Scotsman winning easily 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
Results
Results (prefix denotes seeding):
Men’s singles, third round: 5-Robin Soederling (Swe) bt Thiemo de Bakker (Net) 6-2, 6-3, 6-3; 21-Albert Montanes (Spa) bt Kei Nishikori (Jap) 6-2, 2-1 (Nishikori retired).
On Friday (second round): 1-Rafael Nadal (Esp) bt Denis Istomin (Uzb) 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5; 14-Nicolas Almagro (Esp) bt Guillermo Garcia-Lopez (Esp) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 7-6 (7-4); Gilles Simon (Fra) bt 29-Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, 6-3; 31-David Nalbandian (Arg) bt Florent Serra (Fra) 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; 20-Sam Querrey (US) bt Marcel Granollers (Esp) 6-2, 6-3, 6-4; 25-Stanislas Wawrinka (Sui) bt Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) 7-5, 6-3, 6-4; 8-Fernando Verdasco (Esp) bt Adrian Mannarino (Fra) 6-1, 6-2, 6-2; 23-Feliciano Lopez (Esp) bt Benoit Paire (Fra) 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2; Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Esp) bt Jeremy Chardy (Fra) 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, 7-6 (7-2); 12-Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) bt Dudi Sela (Isr) 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3; 10-David Ferrer (Esp) bt Benjamin Becker (Ger) 6-3, 6-4, 6-4; 18-John Isner (US) bt Marco Chiudinelli (Sui) 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-4; 4-Andy Murray (Bri) bt Dustin Brown (Jam) 7-5, 6-3, 6-0.
Women’s singles, third round: 1-Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Chan Yung-Jan (Tai) 6-1, 6-0; 31-Kaia Kanepi (Estonia) bt 4-Jelena Jankovic (Ser) 6-2, 7-6(1); 14-Maria Sharapova (Rus) bt Beatrice Capra (US) 6-0, 6-0.
On Friday: 16-Shahar Peer (Isr) bt 19-Flavia Pennetta (Ita) 6-4, 6-4; 3-Venus Williams (US) bt Mandy Minella (Lux) 6-2, 6-1; Ana Ivanovic (Srb) bt Virginie Razzano (Fra) 7-5, 6-0; 6-Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt 29-Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) 6-1, 7-5; 20-Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) bt Gisela Dulko (Arg) 6-1, 6-2; 2-Kim Clijsters (Bel) bt 27-Petra Kvitova (Cze) 6-3, 6-0; 12-Elena Dementieva (Rus) bt 24-Daniela Hantuchova (Slo) 7-5, 6-2; 5-Samantha Stosur (Aus) bt Sara Errani (Ita) 6-2 6-3.