Jankovic survives scare to reach fourth round

NEW YORK, Sep 1 (Reuters) Third seed Jelena Jankovic of Serbia survived a third-round scare, dropping the first set before rallying back for a 4-6 6-2 6-3 victory over French teenager Alize Cornet at the US Open.

Jankovic said she underestimated the 17-year-old Cornet and was fortunate to advance, yesterday.

''I came to the court like I was going to a picnic,'' the 22-year-old Serbian said about her first encounter with Cornet.

''I was so careless. I underestimated my opponent because I thought she was a junior.

''I thought I will have an easy job. That was a big mistake for me.'' Cornet, ranked 96th, shocked Jankovic with 13 winners in the opening set and broke the Serbian three times.

Jankovic, however, weathered the storm.

After finding her rhythm, the third seed attacked Cornet on her serve, breaking the Frenchwoman three times in the second set and four times in the third.

Jankovic, a semi-finalist here last year who also reached the last four this year at the French Open, was full of praise for Cornet.

''She was playing unbelievably today,'' Jankovic said.

''I knew that the girl will let down at some point because she cannot play the whole match without making any mistakes and running from side to side, making some unbelievable shots.

''She gave me a really hard time and I was really surprised how well she played. Very lucky to get through, for sure. She gave me a scare.'' Jankovic will next play 19th seed Sybille Bammer of Austria, a 6-1 6-2 winner over 14th-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia.

''The next round will be a different story,'' said Jankovic.

''I know the girl I'm playing against. I know what I'm supposed to do.'' Reuters BJR VP0625