Jankovic hangs tough to down Arvidsson

By Pritha Sarkar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Jelena Jankovic looked to be down and out in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday but found the strength to pick herself up and complete a nerve-jangling 6-3 6-7 7-5 win over Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson.

The second-seeded Serbian was given the run-around by Arvidsson and at one point in the third set, after chasing down a drop shot, she found herself sprawled on the court, face down.

She opted to make the most of the unexpected break and took several seconds to get back on her feet before finally taming the plucky challenge of Arvidsson.

"I was just tired and I couldn't get up. I was so exhausted at that moment. I was breathing hard, and I didn't have the energy to get up," Jankovic told reporters after surviving the two-hour 45-minute marathon.

"I would have loved to take a nap on court, because I was really exhausted. But rules are rules (and) I had to keep going."

As a player who had been ranked world number one just 10 days ago, Jankovic had been expected to roll over an opponent with a modest grand slam record.

In her 13 previous grand slam appearances, Arvidsson's highlight had been advancing to the third round once, at the Australian Open in 2006.

However, she produced an inspired performance on Wednesday and came close to pulling off the biggest upset of this year's tournament.

STINGING GROUNDSTROKES

Jankovic twice served for the match in the second set, and reached match point at 5-4 up, but each time Arvidsson pegged her back with a series of stinging groundstrokes.

The Serbian's luck did not change in the tiebreak as she held a 3-0 advantage but could not prevent Arvidsson from leveling the contest.

Despite falling behind 0-3 in the decider, the 63rd-ranked Arvidsson threatened to launch another comeback after Jankovic gifted her a break in the seventh game with a double fault.

But Jankovic kept her wits about her to seal victory when Arvidsson shoved a backhand long on match point.

"It was a really tough one and I'm completely out of breath. I struggled out there and my opponent played really, really well and she pushed me to the limit," said a relieved Jankovic, who will next face Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie.

Jankovic also hoped her win over Arvidsson would turn out to be a good omen.