Tue Jun 24 16:48:38 2008

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Jankovic, Sharapova, Venus advance at Big W

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Wimbledon, England (Sports Network) - Second-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, third-seeded former champion Maria Sharapova and defending titlist and four- time winner Venus Williams were a trio of opening-round victors Tuesday at Wimbledon.

Jankovic, still seeking that elusive first-ever trip into a Grand Slam final, handled Ukrainian Olga Savchuk 6-3, 6-2 on Court 1, needing four match points to do so.

The hard-hitting Jankovic has already reached semifinals at the Australian and French Opens this year and landed in the fourth round here at Wimbledon the last two years.

Jankovic will battle rising Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in the next round, marking a rematch of a French Open quarterfinal won easily by the Serb three weeks ago. Suarez Navarro beat Russian Galina Voskoboeva 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.

The 2004 champion Sharapova, clad in a white tuxedo-type shirt and white shorts, cruised past France's Stephanie Foretz 6-1, 6-4 on Court 1 at the All England Club. This marked the tall Russian's first grass-court match of the year.

Sharapova moved on in an uneventful 1-hour, 15-minute affair.

The three-time Grand Slam champion Sharapova, who captured the Australian Open back in January by beating current No. 1 Ana Ivanovic in the final, will face fellow Russian Alla Kudryavtseva in the round of 64 here.

Meanwhile, a seventh-seeded Williams was tested in the first set by Britain's Naomi Cavaday before cruising in the second for a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory on the famed Centre Court.

The 19-year-old Cavaday surprised Williams by breaking the big American in the opening game of the match, and the British youngster pushed Williams to 4-4 in the first-set tiebreak before the six-time Grand Slam champ finally prevailed for a one-set lead.

In the second set, it was all Williams, who ultimately sealed the deal with a forehand winner to improve her career record at Wimbledon to 52-7. The American moved on in 1 hour, 18 minutes with the help of six aces and four service breaks. Cavaday managed just the one break en route to defeat.

The former top-ranked Williams beat France's Marion Bartoli in last year's finale here, giving her a fourth Wimbledon title in eight years. Her other Wimbledon championships came in 2000, 2001 and 2005 and she was the runner-up to her younger sister Serena in 2002 and 2003.

Up next for Venus will be another Brit, Anne Keothavong.

Venus and Serena are also playing some doubles here, as the 11th-seeded sisters posted a routine 6-0, 6-3 victory on Tuesday against a tandem of Belarusian Tatiana Poutchek and Russian Anastasia Rodionova.

Former Wimbledon champ Lindsay Davenport, playing her first match here since losing to Venus in the '05 final, was tested in a 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 victory over little-known Czech Renata Voracova. The 25th-seeded Davenport required some medical attention during the match to have an ailing right knee and thigh re- taped. The oft-injured Davenport was seeing her first action anywhere in over two months.

The three-time major titlist Davenport, who titled here in 1999 and was the runner-up to Venus in 2000 and 2005, will meet Argentine Gisela Dulko in the next round.

Ninth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina defeated Yung-Jan Chan 7-6 (10-8), 6-2, while 10th-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova dismissed Italian Sara Errani 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 and 13th-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva snuck past Japanese Aiko Nakamura 6-1, 6-7 (3-7), 6-1. Safina was this month's French Open runner-up to Ivanovic.

Sixteenth-seeded Belarusian Victoria Azarenka blitzed Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova 6-1, 6-1, while 20th-seeded Italian Francesca Schiavone outlasted Austrian Tamira Paszek 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 and German Julia Goerges upended 23rd- seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 16-14 in the longest women's match to this point of the fortnight. Goerges prevailed in 3 hours, 40 minutes, including a 2-hour, 16-minute 30-game third set.

In other action involving seeds, No. 21 Russian Nadia Petrova bested Belarusian Olga Govortsova 6-4, 6-4; No. 22 Italian Flavia Pennetta handled Ukrainian Julia Vakulenko 6-3, 6-4; No. 26 Austrian Sybille Bammer was trailing Sofia Arvidsson 4-6, 4-1 when the Swede retired; No. 31 Dane Caroline Wozniacki bested Czech Eva Hrdinova 6-2, 7-5; and No. 32 Indian Sania Mirza held off Colombian Catalina Castano 7-6 (7-3), 3-6, 6-4.

Several other women posted opening-round wins, including Dulko, Keothavong, Kudryavtseva, France's Emilie Loit, Chinese Shuai Peng, Japan's Ai Sugiyama, and last week's surprise champion in The Netherlands, Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva was leading Italian Maria Elena Camerin 6-3, 3-3 when play was suspended due to insufficient light. Dementieva reached a pair of Grand Slam finals back in 2004.

The second round will commence on Wednesday, including matches for a top- seeded Ivanovic, the two-time Wimbledon champion Serena and the 2007 runner-up Bartoli. The French Open champion Ivanovic will face France's Nathalie Dechy, while a sixth-seeded Serena will meet Poland's Urszula Radwanska and an 11th- seeded Bartoli will be opposed by Ukrainian Tatiana Perebiynis. Serena is an eight-time major champion, including her big wins here in '02 and '03.

The Day-3 schedule will also feature fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, eighth-seeded Russian Anna Chakvetadze and former Wimbledon winner Amelie Mauresmo. The 29th-seeded Mauresmo, who titled here two years ago, will face Spaniard Virginia Ruano Pascual.