Jankovic tops Venus Williams in Stuttgart

Oct 4, 2008 - 10:01 PM STUTTGART, Germany (Ticker) -- Jelena Jankovic got the better of Venus Williams again.

Jankovic advanced to the final of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix on Saturday with a 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-2 victory over the sixth-seeded American.

The second seed at this hardcourt event, Jankovic improved to 5-3 lifetime and 2-0 this season against the former No. 1 and seven-time Grand Slam champion.

A winner at Beijing last week, the 23-year-old Serb will attempt to claim back-to-back titles on Sunday when she faces Russia's Nadia Petrova.

"You always have to bring your best game against Venus," Jankovic said. "We've had a lot of three set matches. I knew today I had to get the first strike on her. I was really happy to win the match and hope I can recover for tomorrow."

Jankovic, who will overtake Venus' sister - Serena Williams - atop the WTA rankings Monday, made things interesting before nailing down her seventh consecutive win.

She faced 16 break points during the 2-hour, 45-minute encounter, but Williams converted just two of those opportunities against the defensive-minded 23-year-old.

"It was a very high quality match and I think the fans enjoyed it," Williams said. "She moves really well and is a great competitor. In the end it came down to the errors I was making. I didn't take my break point chances and I have to work on that. That's the great thing about tennis, you always have another opportunity."

The U.S. Open runner-up to Serena Williams, Jankovic will be after her third title of the season and eighth overall on Sunday.

Petrova had a somewhat easier path to the championship as she topped unseeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-4, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

The 26-year-old Russian also has been playing well of late. The eight-time champion won her lone title of the season at Cincinnati in August and has reached the semifinals or better in four of her last five tournaments.

Petrova has lost three straight matches to Jankovic, who leads their all-time series 5-2.

First prize is $100,000.