Clijsters breezes past Jankovic

DOHA: Belgian Kim Clijsters served seven aces on her way to a 6-2, 6-3 win over Jelena Jankovic of Serbia in the WTA Championships here on Wednesday. Earlier, Vera Zvonareva won her second round-robin match to move a step closer to the semifinals.

Second seed Zvonareva was not at her best but still managed to record a 7-6(7-4), 6-4 victory over Belarussian Victoria Azarenka in the White Group.

The Russian's win kept alive her slim hopes of overtaking Caroline Wozniacki as the season-ending world No. 1.

Zvonareva recovered from 2-0, 4-2 and 5-4 down in the first set, winning the tie-breaker with the help of an ace and several other big serves.

In the second set, she was behind 2-0 and 3-1 before winning 6-4 against a visibly frustrated Azarenka.

Zvonareva must win her last match in the group stage and then make it to the final if she is to have any chance of toppling Wozniacki as world number one.

Earlier, on Tuesday's last match, Australian Sam Stosur beat Francesca Schiavone to gain a measure of revenge for her defeat in the French Open final in June.

Italy's Schiavone had raced to a 4-0 lead in the first set, but Stosur battled back to win 6-4, 6-4.

Stosur, the No.5 seed, had a slow start to the match, falling behind 4-0, winning three points in those four games; but she rebounded in a big way against the No.4-seeded Schiavone, breaking at love in the fifth game and winning six in a row to take the first set. The two stayed on serve until 4-all in the second set, when Stosur broke again then served out the straight set victory.

“It wasn't going too well at the beginning, that's for sure. It was happening so quickly,” Stosur said of the slow start. “From that point I just tried to slow down a little bit and take my time, and play point by point. One game turned into two, three... then I started feeling a lot better and knew I was back in the match.”

Top seeds Mahesh Bhupathi and Max Mirnyi booked a last-eight berth in the Open Sud de France with a 7-6(3) 7-6(3) win over Brian Battistone and Andreas Siljestrom.

The results: At Doha: WTA Championships: White group: Vera Zvonareva bt Victoria Azarenka 7-6(4), 6-4; Kim Clijsters bt Jelena Jankovic 6-2, 6-3.

Maroon group: Samantha Stosur bt Francesca Schiavone 6-4, 6-4.

At Vienna (Bank Austria Tennis Trophy): First round: Bjorn Phau bt Florian Mayer 6-2, 6-4; Andreas Haider-Maurer bt Thomas Muster 6-2, 7-6(5); Grega Zemlja bt Marsel Ilhan 4-6, 6-1, 7-5; Juan Chela bt Andrej Martin 6-3, 6-3; Tobias Kamke bt Matthias Bachinger 6-4, 6-4.

At Montpellier (Open Sud de France): Adrian Mannarino bt Lukas Lacko 6-3, 6-7(4), 6-4. John Isner bt Benoit Paire 7-5, 6-2; David Nalbandian bt Marcel Granollers 6-4, 6-4; Michael Llodra bt Olivier Rochus 2-3 (retd). Doubles: Mahesh Bhupathi & Max Mirnyi bt Brian Battistone & Andreas Siljestrom 7-6(3) 7-6(3).

At St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg Open): First round: Lu Yen-Hsun bt Potito Starace 6-2, 6-2; Benjamin Becker bt Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-4, 5-7, 6-4; Oleksandr Dolgopolov Jr. bt Fabio Fognini 7-6(/5), 6-4; Rainer Schuettler bt Viktor Troicki 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 . — Agencies