Jankovic, Goerges through to second round

Crowd-favourites and Dubai residents Svetlana Kuznetsova and Jelena Jankovic had contrasting outings on the opening day of the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open at the Dubai Tennis Stadium here late on Monday. Kunetsova had her dream of making a fourth final here shattered by a gutsy performance from Julia Goerges who turned things around mid-way through the second set to win 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, while Jankovic breezed past an out of sorts Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-2 in an hour and 13 minutes late on Monday. Kuznetsova, a three-time losing finalist in Dubai, started off well against her German opponent who was making her Dubai debut. Kuznetsova broke early and held for a 2-0 lead and kept up the pressure on Goerges, who made far too many unforced errors on a windy evening to serve out the first set 6-2 in 33 minutes. In the second set, Kuznetsova made her move early taking a 3-1 lead with a break in the third. But Goerges did not give up as she turned things around to draw level at 3-3 to eventually win an easy tie-breaker 7-2. In the third set it was pretty much one-way with Goerges registering one break to win 6-4 to set a meeting with top seed, world number one and Doha Open champion on Sunday, Victoria Azarenka. In the night’s last match, there was no stopping former world number one Jankovic as she did just enough to tame her 30th ranked opponent from the Czech Republic 6-2, 6-2. Action continues at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from 2 pm on Tuesday with the centre court feature matches putting Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska against qualifier Aleksandra Wozniak, while former world number Ana Ivanovic will be up against Italian Francesca Schiavone at 7 pm. Results: (Singles) Maria Kirilenko bt Monica Niculescu 6-3, 6-0; Shahar Peer bt Fatma Al Nabhani 6-3, 6-0; Flavia Pennetta bt Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-3, 6-3; Julia Goerges bt Svetlana Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4; Jelena Jankovic vs Petra Cetkovska 6-2, 6-2.