Jankovic holds nerve to reach first Grand Slam final

Jelena Jankovic must have wondered whether she would ever reach a Grand Slam final but the 23-year-old Serb finally achieved her goal here last night. Putting aside the memory of four semi-final defeats, Jankovic beat Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 to reach the final of the US Open. She will play Serena Williams, who beat Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 in the other semi-final.

In a stiff breeze the quality of the tennis in both matches often dipped. Consistency won the day, with the two Russians paying the penalty for a host of unforced errors. Dementieva made 42 and Safina 41.

Dementieva, who was a break up in both sets, played her usual attacking game but Jankovic kept making her play the extra ball. The Russian made the first break, but Jankovic took command after breaking back to level at 4-4. Two games later the Serb broke again, converting her first set point when the Olympic champion put a backhand in the net.

In the second set it was a question of which player could hold serve. After four successive breaks Jankovic finally held to take a 4-3 lead. At 4-5 Dementieva played a ragged service game to hand Jankovic victory.

The other semi-final followed a similar pattern, with Williams recovering from an early break to capitalise on her opponent's mistakes. Safina led 2-0 but went on to drop her serve five times. Williams never looked back after getting the better of three successive breaks of serve at the start of the second set.

Both finalists would move up to world No 1 by winning the title. They have played each other six times, with their record tied at three wins apiece. It remains to be seen when the final will be played. Although it is scheduled for today's night session, heavy rain is forecast and they may well not get on court until tomorrow.

Interesting? Click here to explore further