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INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Jelena Jankovic opened her title defense in the BNP Paribas Open on Friday with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Coco Vandeweghe in the second round at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.
“I didn’t really know what to expect,” said Jankovic, who beat current No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki for the 2010 title. “I knew that she kind of has a really big serve. She serves well and she hits her first shot, but there wasn’t a lot of rhytm out there. The points were very short so all I had to do was get the ball in play and kind of wait for my chances, and that’s basically what I did.
“I tried to make her hit a lot of balls and tried to rush her serve and start the point, and she made a lot of mistakes.”
Jankovic, a former No. 1 who is currently No. 6, has reached at least the semifinals of her past three tournaments after a stretch of six events in which she failed to win consecutive matches.
To keep that streak of semifinals alive, Jankovic could have to beat Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round and Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals.
The only woman to win two years in a row was Martina Navratilova in 1990-91.