Of many matches on Hisense Arena to which I've been subjected over the years, my favourite tennis player has featured in a large subset. For some strange reason, low ranked opponents have occasionally provided more headaches for Jelena Jankovic than I believe is fair or necessary for one of the best movers around a tennis court in recent history.
Today's obstacle in the path to JJ nirvana was Tapei's Kai-Chen Chang. For awhile it seemed that the player ranked 149 would keep the 13th seed occupied for longer than expected as the flowing ground strokes we associate with the Serbian number one flowed about as freely as an Arctic glacier.
A top player would have pounced on the rusty start from Jelena but Kai-Chen lacked the weapons to do so in a damaging fashion. Once Jankovic felt her way into the match, the winners came, and forced the Tapei's girl into errors that eventually cost her the first set 6-4. Jelena in near to full flight is a sight for sore eyes on the tennis court - her rhythmic racquet employment, balance and court awareness make for most pleasant viewing when working to plan. And she doesn't require sound effects like some!
The second set saw the ante upped by Jelena and much of her best tennis drawn upon when it mattered. Not all was required due to a slump in the game of Chang, but it did please the crowd to see the occasional fine shot making from the qualifier as evidence of a player to keep an eye on in the not too distant future.
Of most import, my favourite is through to round three, and hitting the ball pretty well for this stage of the tournament, and plenty of room to improve as the days go by.
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