Jelena Jankovic Survives Scare

Jelena Jankovic had to battle back from a second set blip to finally see off Simona Halep in two hours and twenty minutes.

In the scorching heat of the day the fourth seed was looking to improve on her runner up spot back in 2008 but got more than she bargained for the fearless Romanian.

It was the former world number one who made the better start as she broke early to open up a 3-0 lead but threw the lead away as she was broken three times in a row.

But the fourth seed managed to hold steady as she took the opening set 6-4.

Into the second and Jankovic looked to be struggling with the swirling win and extreme New York heat as Halep raced to a 4-1 lead. And while Jankovic did battle back the eighteen year old held her nerve to serve out the set to take the match into a decider.

And it was the Romanian who struck first in the third set as she broke in the ninth game to move within a game of the biggest win of her career. But Halep couldn't serve out the set as Jankovic pulled the game back to deuce before going on to break back.

And with that Halep's chance of a major first round upset were gone as Jankovic took the next two games, breaking Halep once again, to wrap up a 6-4 4-6 7-5 victory.

It was an error strewn performance for Jankovic as she guilty of forty eight unforced errors and dropped her serve seven times on her way to victory.

Speaking to Sky Sports after the match she said: "It was really a tough match. I had to get used to conditions. It was quite windy here and I was a little bit nervous to be honest, so I'm very happy to get through."

Jankovic will now face Mirjana Lucic in the second round as she saw off Alicia Molik 7-6 (7-6) 6-1.

But there was no such trouble for top seed Caroline Wozniacki as she dropped just two games in her demolition of Chelsey Gullickson 6-1 6-1. The home support wasn't enough for the American as she had no answer to Wozniacki's play.

The Dane is playing as the top seed for the first time at a Grand Slam in the absence of the injured Serena Williams, who Wozniacki will replace at the top of the world standings if she was to win.

FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw