Jankovic scrapes through against battling Swede
The Serbian second seed was taken the distance at Arthur Ashe Stadium by her Swedish opponent before grinding out a 6-3 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 triumph.
Jankovic, who recently lost the world’s top ranking to Ana Ivanovic after holding it for just a week, had been cruising at 3-0 up in the second set.
She also squandered a 3-0 lead in the tie-break to let the match go to a deciding set.
Jankovic finally claimed victory after a tense third set when Arvidsson — ranked 63rd in the world — sent a backhand long for her 54th unforced error.
A quarter-finalist at last year’s US Open, Jankovic faces 26th seed Anabel Medina Garrigues or Jie Zheng in the next round.
Meanwhile, British number one Anne Keothavong justified her self belief as she upset US Open 25th seed Francesca Schiavone in New York today.
Keothavong, the world number 87, sprang a surprise as she knocked out the Italian 6-2 3-6 6-4 in the second round to become the first British woman since Jo Durie in 1991 to reach the US Open third round.
Making her first appearance in a grand slam other than Wimbledon, the 24-year-old Londoner won four games in a row in the third set — and then insisted she had always been confident of victory.
“Before the match I really believed I had a chance to win,” said Keothavong. “I knew if I could hang in there and just get stuck in then I’d be in with a chance. I came away with the win so I’m pretty pleased.”
Keothavong, who now faces fifth seed and Olympic women’s singles champion Elena Dementieva in the third round, experienced none of the nerves she had felt during her opening-round victory over Alexa Glatch.
“I guess I’d got that match under my belt and today’s match was totally different,” she continued.
Keothavong really showed her mettle in the deciding set when she recovered from a service break to swing the contest back in her favour from 4-2 down to win the set 6-4 and take the match.
“Even when I went 4-2 down when I lost my serve there I never felt at that point that I would lose the match,” she said.
“I felt that if I just kept fighting and hanging in there then my chance would come and, yes, I got there.”
Keothavong is enjoying the best year of her career having turned professional on her 18th birthday in September 2001.
She achieved her first victory in eight years at Wimbledon earlier this summer when she reached the second round before bowing out to eventual champion Venus Williams and has also broken the women’s top 100.
She said: “For me, it’s been a long year, and there have been a few ups and downs, but I’m finally, well, I’m not where I want to be, because I just want to keep climbing up in the rankings.
“But this year, you know, it was quite significant for me to finally break into the top 100.
“Like I said before, it had been a goal of mine for so long, and now I’m just looking ahead and, you know, working on the next goal.”
Going head to head with Williams in the heady atmosphere of Wimbledon was not without its benefits.
“I definitely came away from that match with Venus with a lot more confidence and just being out there on the big stage against someone like her and not feeling too fazed about it,” Keothavong added.
“Today’s match here was totally different, though, and right now I’m just pleased to have got through that.”
