Jelena plays down title chance

THIRD seed Jelena Jankovic was keen to distance herself from the favourite’s tag after kicking off her French Open campaign with a laboured first-round victory on a rain-affected day in Paris yesterday.

Jankovic and Venus Williams were the leading players to progress in the women’s draw on day two, which was cut short when the heavens opened midway through the afternoon.

While Williams, the eighth seed, needed three sets to get past Tzipora Obziler just before the rain came down, Serbia’s Jankovic was a 7-6 (7/3) 6-2 winner over Monica Niculescu in the same half of the draw.