JANKOVIC AND STOSUR AIM FOR FRENCH OPEN FOURTH ROUND

Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur feature in third round betting action at William Hill today. Jankovic aims to secure a spot in the fourth round at the expense of Alona Bondarenko; meanwhile, Stosur will vie to advance over Anastasia Pivovarova.
Serbian starlet, Jelena Jankovic fell into a rather favourable section of the draw, yet, despite such fortune, was tested in the second round. After getting off to a quick start by beating Alicia Molik in straight sets and dropping just  four games in the process she came up against determined opponent Kaia Kanepi, needing three sets to dismiss the Estonian.
Next up is Alona Bondarenko, and Jankovic needs to clean up her game to advance. Tennis punters could split hairs but fortunately, Jankovic dominates the series between the pair with a 9-1 mark and that is enough to inspire confidence she is the good bet. Bookies certainly support this notion; Jankovic is a solid 2/9 favourite.
In spite of the overwhelming one-sided series Bondarenko is a tempting 3/1 puppy. The reason for this is that she owns the most recent victory between the pair, having beaten Jankovic at the Australian Open third round 6-2, 6-3. This gives the underdog Bondarenko a 1-0 edge on 2010 and perhaps some confidence ahead of their clash, providing she exercises short-term memory and forgets those nine crushing losses to the Serbian.
Samantha Stosur aims to relive her 2009 French Open run through equalling or bettering on her semi-final finish last year. Standing in Stosur’s way of a fourth round spot and a chance to continue her campaign in Paris is Anastasia Pivovarova, an unheralded 19-year-old Russian that weighs in at No.187 in the rankings and had to qualify for the main draw.
Stosur is a firm favourite to advance at 1/8 while Pivovarova is a distinct puppy at 9/2. Tipping question is can Pivovarova extend her Cinderella run at the expense of Stosur, a feat that would register as a big upset, make no mistake.
Pivovarova reaches the third round on the back of wins against Olaru and Jie Zheng – the latter win the more impressive result because Zheng was the 25th seed. Beating seventh seed Stosur though is another matter entirely.  Most have this an unthinkable result but what if it isn’t so? Worth a think, no.