Jankovic overcomes Gajdosova

12 April 2012

Third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia was taken to a tie-break in a second set which lasted 52 minutes before overcoming Slovakia's Jamila Gajdosova 6-2 7-6 (7-2) at the US Open in New York.

After her victory, the 2006 semi-finalist admitted to first-day nerves but said she was glad to have been tested early in the tournament.

"I was really nervous for some reason," Jankovic said. "First round of the tournament, it's always difficult - it doesn't matter if it's a grand slam or just a regular tournament."

Following a ceremony commemorating the 50th anniversary of Althea Gibson's US Open title - the first by an African-American - Venus Williams took centre stage.

Venus, the 12th seed, cruised to a 6-2 6-1 victory over Hungarian Kira Nagy and will next face Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru.

On the Grandstand Court, 10th seed Marion Bartoli of France cruised into the second round with a 6-1 6-1 victory over American wild card Alexa Glatch.

Also through on the opening morning were 12th seed Dinara Safina of Russia, with a 6-2 6-3 win over Colombian Catalina Castano, while 19th seed Sybille Bammer of Austria defeated Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand 6-4 6-4.

Russian 27th seed Vera Zvonareva survived a second-set wobble to defeat compatriot Alina Jidkova 6-0 6-7 (5-7) 6-0, and Ai Sugiyama overcame Slovenian qualifier Andreja Klepac 6-3 6-1.

Mara Santangelo of Italy, the 25th seed, was beaten 6-2 6-4 by Vera Dushevina, while 29th seed Samantha Stosur of Australia also crashed out, losing in straight sets to French qualifier Alize Cornet.

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