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Published on October 11, 2007

Nonthaburi

The Serbian top seed called it quits at 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 0-30 after one hour and 45 minutes of long exciting rallies with the persistent Zi, while second seed Venus Williams was leading Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 4-1 when play was suspended at press time because of rain.

Jankovic, who arrived just a day before her match, took the first set 6-4 and cruised to a 2-0 lead in the second before the Chinese started her fightback. Zi, the 2006 Australian and Wimbledon doubles champion, bravely counterattacked with double-fisted ground strokes.

Time and again the Serbian, forced to run from corner to corner, had to pause to catch her breath. After serving a double fault to hand the second set to the Chinese, Jankovic took a medical time-out. When she resumed play, she lost the first two points in the third set before throwing in the towel.

"I started to feel very tired in the second set. I arrived yesterday and didn't sleep last night. I played indoors in Germany last week, so it was a drastic change for me and my body couldn't take it,'' said Jankovic, who came from an indoor event in Stuttgart, where she lost to Justine Henin in the semi-final.

"The doctor asked me to stop the match. If I continued I probably would have fainted and ended up in hospital. I'm really disappointed as this was my first time in Bangkok."

The humid conditions later subsided and clouds hovered the sky when Williams took on the young Wozniacki. The American, fresh from making two straight finals in Seoul and Tokyo, unleashed thundering serves and explosive forehands to take the first set and cruised to a 4-1 lead in the second when drizzle suspended play.

If Williams wins the match, she will play local star Tamarine Tanasugarn in what may be the highlight of the US$200,000 tournament - at 6pm tonight.

Tamarine said: "I will be the happiest if I can beat her. It would be a huge honour if I can beat someone who used to be a former world No 1 and has won many Grand Slam titles.''

Tamarine played with Aiko Nakamura of Japan yesterday but lost their doubles first round match to Camille Pin of France and Emilia Salerni of Argentina 6-7 (5-7) 4-6.

Her singles match today will be a mission impossible for the 2006 finalist, as Tamarine has never taken a set from Williams in their five meetings so far.

"I have to play smart and solid on crucial points. That was what I didn't do in the past. I have to give my everything as the fans will come to support me,'' Tamarine said.

In other first round matches, American Vania King had a mid-match hiccup in her title defence, before prevailing over compatriot Jill Craybas 6-1 3-6 6-2. Chan Yung-jan of Taiwan beat Magdalena Rybarikova of the Slovak Republic 6-3 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes.

In the second round, Camille Pin of France became the first player to book a spot in the quarter-finals by beating Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic 6-3 7-6 (7-1) in one hour and 32 minutes. Seventh seed Flavia Pennetta of Italy also joined the Czech in the final eight, coming back from a set down to beat Casey Dellacqua of Australia 2-6 6-3 7-5.

Kuznetsova advances

nTop-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova rallied to beat Gisela Dulko of Argentina 3-6 6-2 6-4 yesterday and advance to the quarter-finals of the Kremlin Cup. "It seems to me that I was playing against myself, surface and balls today, not against her," said Kuznetsova, who had four aces and 55 unforced errors. "I played bad but nevertheless won the match."

Lerpong Amsa-ngiam

 The Nation