Thu May 29 10:46:20 2008

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Jankovic, Venus reach third round at French Open

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - Third-seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic and Wimbledon champion Venus Williams were a pair of second-round winners Thursday at the 2008 French Open.

The 2007 Roland Garros semifinalist Jankovic topped New Zealand's Marina Erakovic 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), while the eighth-seeded Williams handled Tunisian qualifier Selima Sfar 6-2, 6-4 on Day 5 at this Parisian Grand Slam.

Jankovic, who was a big clay-court titlist in Berlin earlier this month, played through some pain against Erakovic, as she was slowed by a right arm injury.

"It started gradually, little by little," said Jankovic, who refused to have her arm wrapped by a trainer. The Serbian star said she didn't "want tape because I cannot play with tape."

The six-time major titlist and former world No. 1 Williams, the 2002 French Open runner-up to her younger sister Serena, was both healthy and solid on Thursday.

"I played well and I just tried to improve literally on every point I'm playing out there, just to play better every point, play better every match," Williams said following her easy second-round victory.

Heavy French crowd favorite Amelie Mauresmo was sent packing on Thursday, as the former top-ranked star and two-time Grand Slam champion succumbed to Spanish qualifier Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3, 6-4. Mauresmo has never advanced beyond the quarterfinals at her home major and has bowed out in the first or second round here seven times in 14 trips.

Nineteenth-seeded Frenchwoman Alize Cornet topped Argentine Gisela Dulko 6-0, 4-6, 6-4; 26th-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta overcame Russian qualifier Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3-6, 6-1, 6-1; 27th-seeded Slovenian Katarina Srebotnik beat Russian Ekaterina Makarova 6-0, 7-5; and 28th-seeded Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova whipped Venezuelan Milagros Sequera 6-3, 6-0 on the famed red clay here.

A very mild Day-5 upset came when Belarusian Olga Govortsova grounded 31st- seeded Japanese Ai Sugiyama 6-0, 7-5.

Additional second-round wins came for Czechs Iveta Benesova, a qualifier, and Petra Cetkovska.