Jankovic tops 2-time champion Kvitova
LONDON — About an hour after her stunning comeback from a set and a break down against defending Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, Jelena Jankovic still was giddy.
“I cannot stop smiling. ... I was very brave at the end. You know, here I am,” she said through a giggle. “Unbelievable.”
Jankovic, who had never had much success on grass courts, put together a 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory Saturday over the No. 2-seeded Kvitova, who won the 2011 and 2014 titles at the All England Club.
“I was a little bit better at the end,” the 28th-seeded Jankovic said. “I was a little bit lucky, as well.”
The 30-year-old Serbian was the runner-up at the 2008 U.S. Open and finished that season ranked No. 1. But she’s never been past the fourth round at Wimbledon, hadn’t even made it that far since 2010, and won only one of five matches at the grass-court major over the last four years.
Kvitova, who led 4-2 in the second set, had a difficult time processing her loss.
“I’m not really sure what happened out there,” she said. “Suddenly, I was just missing (shots). So it was really unusual, probably, or weird. I can’t really explain.”
After the traditional middle Sunday off, play resumes Monday. The top half of the women’s draw includes Jelena Jankovic celebrates after defeating second-seeded Petra Kvitova 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 at Wimbledon on Saturday. Jankovic said her victory was “unbelievable.” the most noteworthy matchup: Serena Williams vs. Venus Williams, meeting at a major for the first time since 2009. Those two, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka give that side of the bracket 34 Grand Slam titles.
And the eight women on the other half? They own zero major championships. That includes Jankovic, who meets No. 13 Agnieszka Radwanska next. Also Monday: No. 5 Caroline Wozniacki vs. No. 20 Garbine Muguruza, No. 15 Timea Bacsinszky vs. Monica Niculescu, and No. 21 Madison Keys vs. Olga Govortsova.
The men’s bottom-half matchups, which were determined Saturday: seven-time champion Roger Federer against No. 20 Roberto Bautista Agut, 2013 champion Andy Murray against No. 23 Ivo Karlovic, No. 22 Viktor Troicki against Vasek Pospisil, and 2010 runner-up Tomas Berdych against either No. 12 Gilles Simon or No. 18 Gilles Monfils.
Troicki ended the run of Dustin Brown, the qualifier from Germany who stunned Rafael Nadal in the second round. It marks the fourth year in a row that a man ranked 100th or worse beat Nadal at Wimbledon, then failed to advance further.
To the locals’ delight, Murray beat No. 25 Andreas Seppi of Italy 6-2, 6-2, 1-6, 6-1. Early in the third set, Seppi got treatment for his lower right leg, and ended up taking six games in a row. Murray received treatment on his right shoulder after falling behind 1-0 in the fourth set, then took the last six games.
Kvitova had lost a total of three games through two matches. But she ran out of steam against Jankovic, collecting only four winners in the final set after accumulating 20 until then.
“Not to be in the second week of (my) favorite tournament ... is really sad,” Kvitova said. “I don’t really know what I can say.”
Jankovic delighted in discussing her suddenly, surprisingly effective serve.
“Maybe my serve is not as fast as some of those big girls. But if I’m hitting my spots, it’s quite effective,” Jankovic said. “It was ... hard for Petra to attack and get some returns on it.”