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Safina puts Jankovic's pursuit of tennis No.1 on hold

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Safina puts Jankovic's pursuit of tennis No.1 on hold
Posted: 27 July 2008 1504 hrs

LOS ANGELES : Dinara Safina brought Jelena Jankovic's march toward the world number one ranking to a halt here Saturday with a semi-final win over the top-seeded Serb in the 600,000-dollar WTA hardcourt tournament.

Safina, the fourth seed, beat Jankovic 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 to reach the final of the East West Bank Classic.

The 22-year-old Russian will face Italy's Flavia Pennetta, who rallied for a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over US wild card Bethanie Mattek.

Jankovic, currently ranked second in the world, could have overtaken compatriot Ana Ivanovic atop the rankings by lifting the trophy at the Home Depot Center, in the Los Angeles suburb of Carson.

In Safina she ran into an opponent who has been one of the hottest players on the WTA Tour recently, capturing a title in Berlin and reaching the final of the French Open.

En route to the Berlin title, the Safina defeated former No.1 Justine Henin (who retired following the loss), Serena Williams and Elena Dementieva - currently ranked fifth and sixth.

Before falling to Ivanovic in the championship match at Roland Garros, Safina notched memorable wins over then-number one Maria Sharapova, Dementieva and current No.4 Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Jankovic, who had the number one ranking in her sights despite never having played in a Grand Slam final, had won two of her three prior meetings with Safina, the world No.9.

Tenth seed Pennetta won titles earlier this year ar Vina del Mar and Acapulco.

Pennetta, 26, improved to 33-13 for the year and 4-1 against Mattek, whose only victory over the Italian came here two years ago. World number 59 Mattek, 23, was bidding for her first WTA final appearance.

- AFP/ir
 
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