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Jankovic advances to Kremlin Cup quarters

Jelena Jankovic, shown in a file photo from this year's U.S. Open, dropped her first set Thursday but was able to advance to the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow. (UPI Photo/Monika Graff)
Jelena Jankovic, shown in a file photo from this year's U.S. Open, dropped her first set Thursday but was able to advance to the quarterfinals of the Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow. (UPI Photo/Monika Graff) | License Photo

MOSCOW, Oct. 9 (UPI) -- World No. 1 Jelena Jankovic rallied Thursday to claim a second-round victory at the $1.34 million Kremlin Cup tennis tournament in Moscow.

Jankovic committed five double faults in dropping the first set of her match with Vera Dushevina and had to deal with an onslaught of 12 aces from Dushevina before escaping with a 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 6-2 win. Jankovic has won her last two tournaments, a spurt that returned her to the No. 1 ranking Monday.

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She faces Flavia Pennetta in Friday's quarterfinals. Pennetta was a 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 winner over Ekaterina Makarova in her second-round match Thursday.

No. 7-seeded Vera Zvonareva routed Daniela Hantuchova, 6-1, 6-0, and Nadia Petrova advanced after leading 6-4, 3-2 when Carolina Wozniacki withdrew due to a respiratory illness in other Thursday pairings.

Petrova will go against Elena Dementieva while Zvonareva meets Dominika Cibulkova and second-seeded Dinara Safina plays fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the other quarterfinal matches Friday.

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