Jelena Jankovic Wins Thriller Against Tamira Paszek at the Australian Open
Published by Aaress Lawless on Jan 13, 2008 | Print |
Jelena Jankovic faced one of the worst Grand Slam scares of her career, but managed to overcome Tamira Paszek in three sets on the opening day of the 2008 Australian Open.
After twenty-one breaks of serve an exhausted Jelena Jankovic collapsed to her knees and thanked heaven for a hard-fought victory.
The 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 match lasted three hours and nine minutes.
The match was filled with spurts of spectacular tennis by both players, but most notably by Jankovic, who refused to give up despite the scoreline.
The best point of the match was on Paszek’s first match point at 5-3 when Jankovic outlasted Paszek in a blistering display of power and agility from the baseline.
Jankovic’s thigh injury was not evident during the early part of the match, but it was clear that something was hampering her performance. Shortly after tying the score at 7-all, she took an injury timeout for treatment on her back. Paszek also took a timeout for treatment on her left thigh during the third set.
The women split 125 unforced errors, and Jankovic posted fourteen double faults, compared to Paszek’s nine.
For Paszek, it was still a encouraging match although she lost. Experience and grit won the day for Jankovic, but it showed a glimpse of what may come from the seventeen year-old Austrian in 2008.
Will.I.AM | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
What an awesome match! It would have been over a hour earlier if Paszek would’ve followed her excellent ground strokes into the net! I was sreaming at the T.V.!! Your prediction almost came true Aaress!
Aaress | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
I was close, but just not close enough!
It was a great match and just what fans needed to get in the spirit for the tournament.
Navin | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
kudos Jankovic… her experience helped her. Holded my breathe all the time when Paszek was on match point. lookin forward to see Jankovic vs williams
Diane | Jan 13, 2008 | Reply
I tuned in late because of social obligations, and then had to go to dinner. When I came back, they were still playing! All I could think was that JJ brought this on herself, but I still wanted her to win. She behaved like a champion does when push came to shove, but I’m worried about her physical health.
Vicki | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
I watched this match and for my it was the match of the day and for now the match of tournament. if Paszek had a better serve she would’ve won the match as there was nothing wrong with the guts she showed during the match especially when she was down it was her serve and jankovic experience that were the two differences in a great match.
A lot of the women were made to work hard for their wins and it was great to see.
Nick | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
I just can’t believe how awful both of their serves are, they really need to improve the serves, otherwise, they’ll have a tough time against big returners like Serena, Justine, and Davenport.
It was a fun match watching them lose serve and Jankovic surviving 3 match points.
Drew Lilley | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
Paszek has a Justinesque backhand. I agree with the comments about service but if Tamira can improve hers then she will be top 5 very soon. It was also good to see Jelena fight through to victory on a day when she could hardly seem to hit a ball straight at times.
Aaress | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
It was a good win for Jankovic, but she fell a few places down on my list of potential title contenders. The big 4 (Justine, Serena, Venus, Maria) would have made mincemeat out of Jankovic’s serve last night and that three hour epic only served to make her even more tired and exhausted.
I was pleasantly surprised to watch Paszek hang in there for the duration. Many an older and more experienced player would have checked out mentally once she blew her first match point.
Kurt | Jan 14, 2008 | Reply
INCREDIBLE MATCH! I wasn’t particularly rooting for either one, just really interested in seeing how the dynamics played out and which player would remain focused. Those three match points Jankovic faced down were awesome, just amazing defense that kept Jankovic in the match and showed that Paszek was not afraid to keep going for her shots. And boy did she go for her shots! Her backhand is a really big weapon (and her forehand ain’t bad either), and although Jankovic got better at anticipating where Paszek’s shots would go, Paszek did not let up, no matter the score (not unlike Seles). They both had great mental strength to keep playing, especially with pretty bad serving going on and exhaustion creeping in. That was a fantastic match for the beginning of the fortnight!