Fri Sep 26 09:56:52 2008

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Jankovic wins; Ivanovic bows out in Beijing

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Beijing, China (Sports Network) - Former world No. 1 Serbian Jelena Jankovic posted a quarterfinal victory, while another former top-ranked Serb, Ana Ivanovic, came up a loser Friday at the $600,000 China Open. Jankovic was last year's Beijing runner-up to Hungarian Agnes Szavay.

The top-seeded U.S. Open runner-up Jankovic handled seventh-seeded Slovakian Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-1, while a second-seeded Ivanovic succumbed to heavy Chinese crowd favorite Jie Zheng 7-6 (7-4), 2-6, 6-4 in a grueling 2-hour, 54- minute affair on the hardcourts at Beijing Tennis Center. The struggling Ivanovic, this year's French Open champion and Australian Open runner-up, is a pedestrian 5-5 since running the table at Roland Garros in June and has dropped five of her last eight matches, including a setback at the hands of Zheng at Wimbledon.

Jankovic's semifinal opponent on Saturday will be fifth-seeded Russian Vera Zvonareva, while Zheng will take on fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Kuznetsova leveled Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova 6-2, 6-4 on Day 5 here, while the red-hot Zvonareva dismantled Spaniard Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-0, 6-1. Kuznetsova was last week's runner-up in Tokyo, while the Olympic bronze medalist Zvonareva is fresh off her title in Guangzhou last week. Zvonareva captured her Olympic medal right here in Beijing last month.

The 2008 China Open titlist will collect $95,500.