Jankovic thrashes Schnyder to reach Rome final

ROME (Reuters) - Third seed Jelena Jankovic reached the final of the Italian Open with a 6-1 6-3 victory over Patty Schnyder on Saturday.

The 22-year-old old Serbian, bidding for her second claycourt title of the season after winning the Family Circle Cup in Charleston last month, overcame the Swiss 14th seed in an error-strewn match.

Schnyder, who knocked out former world number one Serena Williams in the last eight on Friday, dropped every one of her eight service games.

Jankovic was also well below her best but went through to her first Rome final when Schnyder sent a forehand into the tramlines.

"I'm really surprised at what happened. I went into the match very concentrated and expected a more difficult match," said Jankovic, who on Sunday will face the winner of the later semi-final between second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova and ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova.

"Usually she plays great, especially on clay. It's her best surface. And she played so well yesterday. Beating Serena was a really unbelievable win.

"Maybe it's just really hard to play two times, two days in a row like that, like the way she did. I don't know what was going on."

Schnyder said her poor performance was due to a cold.

"I've had it for a week but today I couldn't really breathe," she said.

"I couldn't play the rallies every single game. It's my game to wear down some of the opponents, so it's a big disadvantage.

"But she's always a great player. You have to hit three or four great shots to make the points, so I'm not going to say that without it I would have beaten her."