Sport - Tennis

Jankovic in last four

DOHA: Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic reached the semifinals of the WTA Tour’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships Thursday after beating Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 7-6(6), 6-4.

The seventh-ranked Kuznetsova saved two set points in the tiebreaker before hitting a forehand into the net to drop the first set.

Jankovic called for a trainer early in the second set before recovering to win her second round-robin match.

Kuznetsova has one more round-robin match to play but can’t advance because she has lost twice.

On Wednesday, Venus Williams got the better of Elena Dementieva 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, while her sister Serena Williams downed Dinara Safina, Russia 6-4, 6-1.

Eight players are divided into two groups of four, with the top two in each group advancing to the elimination stage.

Both Williams and Russia’s Dementieva had difficulty settling into the maroon group match and just one service game was held in the first set. But the quality of play improved as the match progressed, with many well-contested rallies as each player sought an advantage.

The results: