TENNIS in DEPTH.

Venus Williams survived 2 match points to defeat Lucie Safarova 5-7, 6-2, 7-5 in a resumption of a match halted at dusk on Wednesday. Safarova who looked so good in the first set never reproduced the form she showed earlier in today’s final two sets. Venus who is erratic when serving might just awakened by this close call.

Jelena Jankovic moved a step closer to her third straight semifinal appearance at the French Open, beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-2 Thursday in the second round.

The fifth-seeded Jankovic won 15 of the first 17 points, and then broke her opponent in the final game of the first set. In the second, she recovered from an early break to win four straight games, and closed out the match with her sixth break of service.

Jankovic lost in the semifinals at Roland Garros in each of the last two years. She made her first Grand Slam final at the 2008 U.S. Open.

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