Jankovic survives scare before battling past limping Safarova

WORLD number three Jelena Jankovic was delighted to reach the last 16 after surviving a major fright from a limping opponent.

The Serbian third seed won a battle of the fittest, finishing the stronger against 20-year-old Czech Lucie Safarova to claim a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-2 victory in the pick of the women’s singles matches so far.

But it was a below-par performance from Jankovic, who had hardly broken sweat in her first two matches but was forced to toil for two hours and 35 minutes against an opponent labouring with a knee injury but defying the odds to push her all the way in an epic.