Jankovic sets up Sharapova showdown

October 02, 2009 02:05 pm | Updated 02:08 pm IST - TOKYO

Jelena Jankovic in action at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Jelena Jankovic in action at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

Jelena Jankovic advanced to the finals of the Toray Pan Pacific on Friday with a 6-4, 6-3 win over China’s Li Na.

Seventh-seeded Jankovic took a medical timeout early in the second set but worked through pain in her right arm to set up a final match against Maria Sharapova, who defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in the $2 million tournament.

Li broke Jankovic to go up 2-1 when the Serbian player took a timeout to have her arm treated. Jankovic broke back in the fourth game and never looked back.

“I started to feel some pain in my arm,” the former top-ranked Jankovic said. “The ball was heavy in this humidity. I received some treatment and tried not think about it and just fight for every point.”

Jankovic has won two titles this year at Cincinnati and Marbella.

“If I can win my third title of the year, that would be pretty good,” Jankovic said. “It’s been a difficult year so it would be nice to finish strong.”

Jankovic is the highest seeded player left in the tournament.

Top-ranked Dinara Safina of Russia, Venus Williams and French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova all lost their opening matches after first-round byes.

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