Free Live Odds - Scores and Odds - Sports News - Sports Information - Live Scores - Sports Statistics - Sports Articles - Sports Standings - Live Scor

O&N HOME | NFL MLB NBA NHL NCAAF NCAABk Nascar Golf Soccer Tennis Boxing Horse Racing All Sports

Serena, Jankovic to meet in U.S. Open final

Fri 5th, September 2008

Flushing Meadows, NY (Sports Network) - American Serena Williams and Serbian Jelena Jankovic will square off in Saturday night's final at the 2008 U.S. Open.

The fourth-seeded two-time champion Williams reached her fourth U.S. Open final by dominating sixth-seeded Russian Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 amid breezy conditions in Friday's second semifinal at Ashe Stadium. The surging Safina reached the final in six of her previous seven tournaments, winning three titles, and has beaten three different world No. 1 women this season.

Williams converted on her first match point against Safina when the Russian was unable to return one final big Serena serve after 1 hour, 28 minutes. The American broke Safina's serve five times and watched her Russian counterpart pile up 41 unforced errors.

The 26-year-old Williams will seek her ninth major title, going 8-3 in her previous Grand Slam finals. The former world No. 1 superstar owns 31 career titles overall on the WTA Tour, including three already this season, and will appear in her first U.S. Open final since 2002.

Williams was July's Wimbledon runner-up to her older sister Venus.

In the first semi of the day, the second-seeded Jankovic handled fifth-seeded Russian Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. The two-time major runner-up Dementieva, fresh off her gold medal- winning performance in Beijing, was the 2004 U.S. Open runner-up to fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Jankovic was ranked No. 1 for only one week just last month.

The 23-year-old Jankovic will now appear in her first-ever major final after going 0-4 in her previous Grand Slam semis, including 0-2 in such encounters this season. She was a semifinalist here two years ago.

"I want to win a Grand Slam, and this is why I came here," said Jankovic. "Not having injuries, not having some problems, is giving me a good opportunity to be here, so I'm really thankful for that."

Jankovic converted on her first match point after 1 hour, 34 minutes of tennis on Day 12 here when Dementieva sent one final forehand long of the court at Ashe. A sloppy Dementieva piled six double faults and 42 unforced errors and had her weak serve broken on five occasions by Jankovic, who played some great defense to advance.

Dementieva was riding an 11-match winning streak.

The Belgrade native Jankovic will appear in her 16th career final on the WTA Tour, going 6-9 in her previous ones, including 1-1 this year.

Serena and Jankovic have split six career matchups, including two meetings this year. The American prevailed in a final in Miami, while the Serb came out on top in an Aussie Open quarterfinal back in January. Williams topped Jankovic in an Aussie Open encounter last year, as the two players are 1-1 in their Grand Slam matchups.

"I don't feel expected to win," said Williams. "I feel expected to show up and do the best that I can do, and I feel like I have nothing to lose. I'm going against someone that's ranked higher than me."

She has a lot of pressure to win her first Grand Slam, and I'm just enjoying every moment, so yeah.

The Williams-Jankovic winner will become the new No. 1 player in the world. The final could be in jeopardy here on Saturday, as foul weather is in the forecast due to Tropical Storm Hanna.

"I'm here to stay," said Williams. "Like I said, I've really been enjoying my time on the court and playing a lot. I think -- No. 1 is not my goal right now. I know I'll get that eventually if I continue to play the tournaments. I just want to be able to win the Grand Slams, and play and stay healthy. And I think the ranking will definitely come."

The 2008 U.S. Open champ will pocket $1.5 million, while the runner-up will collect $750,000.