Jankovic and Kuznetsova survive scares

12:33am Thursday 28th August 2008

Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova both endured some tense moments before advancing to the third round at the US Open.

Second seed Jankovic was pushed before recording a 6-3 6-7 (5/7) 7-5 second round triumph over Sofia Arvidsson, while third seed Kuznetsova registered a 7-6 (7/3) 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea.

Meanwhile, eighth seed Vera Zvonareva became the highest-seeded player to be ousted from the year's final major as she fell 6-3 6-3 to Tatiana Perebiynis.

Serbian Jankovic, who recently lost the world number one ranking to compatriot Ana Ivanovic after holding it for just a week, looked like she would cruise into the third round.

However, the 23-year-old made things difficult for herself, squandering a 3-0 lead in the second set. She also let a 3-0 lead in the tiebreak get away.

In a tense third set which featured some brilliant tennis, Jankovic finally put away the match when Arvidsson - ranked 63rd in the world - sent a backhand long for her 54th unforced error.

A quarter-finalist at last year's US Open, Jankovic next faces Zheng Jie, who reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon.

It was an easy day for fifth seed Elena Dementieva, who coasted into the third round with a 6-2 6-1 destruction of Pauline Parmentier.

A 2004 finalist here and fresh from her success at the Beijing Olympics, Dementieva needed just 58 minutes to defeat Parmentier.

The Russian next faces Briton Anne Keothavong, a 6-2 3-6 6-4 winner over 25th seed Francesca Schiavone.