Tears flow as Jankovic through to first Slam final

JELENA JANKOVIC reached the first Grand Slam final of her career after seeing off Elena Dementieva in the semi-finals of the US Open on Friday.

The second-seeded Serb triumphed 6-4 6-4 at Arthur Ashe Stadium to set up a meeting with either Dinara Safina or Serena Williams.

Jankovic survived dropping her opening service game of the match to level the first set at 4-4.

She then held her serve to move into a 5-4 lead before clinching the set on her first set point when Dementieva put a backhand into the net.

The Russian, who was also bidding for her first Grand Slam crown of her career, came into the match on the back of winning gold at the Olympics in Beijing.

And she again broke first in the second set to take a 2-1 lead, but a further three successive breaks — two for Jankovic and one for Dementieva — levelled it up at 3-3.

Serving to stay in the match at 4-5, Dementieva, the runner-up at Flushing Meadows in 2004, pushed a forehand long to give Jankovic victory.

“As you can see, I have tears in my eyes,” Jankovic told the crowd during an on-court interview. “I’m a little bit emotional to be in the final.”

The second-seeded Jankovic entered the match with an 0-4 career record in major semifinals, including losses at this year’s Australian Open and French Open. But she kept tracking down balls, running along the baseline and stretching her racket until the fifth-seeded Dementieva missed. Several times, Jankovic wound up doing the splits at the end of a point.

“Elena is a great champion, a great player, and she was running me down everywhere,” Jankovic said. “I tried as hard as I could to get the balls back.”

She’ll now face either two-time US Open champion Serena Williams or Dinara Safina in the title match.

Jankovic and Dementieva — the runner-up at the US Open and French Open in 2004 — are probably the two best women’s tennis players without a Grand Slam championship. Both have a history of coming up jittery in the late stages of majors.

But they engaged in an entertaining match despite swirling wind that sent the US flag above the scoreboard at one end of Arthur Ashe Stadium rippling loudly and an early afternoon sun that sent the temperature into the 80s.

Back and forth they would hit, swatting powerfully from the baseline, with the shot count often topping 20 on a single point.

That was partly due to good movement by both, but Jankovic in particular.