Jankovic battles through at U.S. Open

By Mark Lamport-Stokes

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Second seed Jelena Jankovic and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova had to work much harder than expected to shake off their opponents in the second round of the U.S. Open on Wednesday.

Serb Jankovic squandered a match point in the second set before scraping past Swede Sofia Arvidsson 6-3 6-7 7-5 and Russian Kuznetsova overcame a slow start to beat Romanian teenager Sorana Cirstea 7-6 6-1.

Olympic champion Elena Dementieva, however, had no complaints about not playing to her potential after completing a 6-2 6-1 demolition of Pauline Parmentier of France.

Jankovic, who reached the last four at the U.S. Open in 2006, needed two hours and 45 minutes to subdue the 63rd-ranked Arvidsson on the Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

The 23-year-old Serb twice served for the match in the second set and also led 3-0 in the tiebreak before the Swede pegged her back with a series of stinging groundstrokes.

Jankovic, who briefly claimed top spot in the rankings earlier this month, had to hold off another Arvidsson comeback in the decider before booking her place in the third round.

"It was a really tough one and I am completely out of breath," said a relieved Jankovic who will next face Wimbledon semi-finalist Zheng Jie. "I struggled out there and my opponent played really, really well and pushed me to the limit.

"I am not yet at my full potential. I still have a long way to go to be where I want to be."