Halep works Jankovic hard

Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic was forced to dig deep to beat Romanian teenager Simona Halep 6-4 4-6 7-5 in the first round of the US Open.

The Serbian fourth seed, who was runner up at Flushing Meadow two years ago but crashed out in the second round last year, had been staring at defeat when 5-4 down in the third set and within two points of losing to the world number 96.

However, she rallied to break her opponent and took the final three games in a match which tipped the two-hour mark.

Jankovic will next play Australia's Alicia Molik or Croatian Mirjana Lucic.

The Serbian revealed afterwards she had not initially realised the severity of the situation.

“I was in some sort of zone, I thought it was 4-3 and then thought, ’Oh my God’,” she said on Sky Sports.

“It was unbelievable, I’m so happy to get through.”

Jankovic explained: “First-round matches are never easy and today was really hard. It wasn’t my best game, so I had to work hard to get through.

“It’s really hot out there, I don’t know how many degrees but it’s really hot, especially on one side (of the court) with the sun in my face.

“It was tough, I was lucky to get through and to have another chance.”