By Blair Henley
Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic may have the rain to thank for her second round win over Estonian qualifier Kaia Kanepi 6-2, 3-6, 6-4. The two waited over four hours to start their match, but the wet weather forced them to halt play again at 1-1 in the third, breaking Kanepi’s momentum after a strong second set.
Kanepi, listed at 5’11” and 163 lbs., beat Jankovic in their only previous meeting last year in Dubai, but her powerful game was much less effective on the damp clay at Roland Garros Thursday.
Jankovic is coming off a solid clay season, beating both Serena and Venus Williams earlier this month in Rome. She plays the winner of No. 27 seed Alona Bonderenko and Magdalena Rybarikova.
It took just over an hour for No. 28 seed Alisa Kleybanova to take out struggling 2008 champion Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-0. Ivanovic, currently ranked No. 42, won the first two games before losing 12 out of the next 13.
Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan ran out of magic against Australia’s Jarmila Groth losing 6-0, 6-3. Date-Krumm, 39, became the second oldest woman to win a French Open match when she upset last year’s finalist, Dinara Safina, in the first round.
Also advancing were No. 17 seed, Francesca Schiavone and No. 11 seed Na Li.
Serena Williams’ match against Julia Goerges was postponed until Friday.