Strycova rallies past Jankovic into delayed Wuhan Open quarters

Barbora Strycova won the first of two rain-delayed matches originally scheduled for Wednesday, recovering from a set down to defeat Guangzhou Open runner-up Jelena Jankovic 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the Wuhan Open here on Thursday.

"It's great to have the roof because we got to play," the Czech veteran said in her on-court interview. "I'm very happy to be through to the quarterfinals. It was a very tough match for me, with a lot of ups and downs, but I'm happy to get the win," she added.

Strycova had reached the round of 16 in her last two Wuhan appearances, but was in trouble early on against the Serb, a former world No. 1, who overcame an injury-prone season to reach the final at the Guangzhou International Women's Open just last week.

"You have to find the motivation all the time if you want to compete and keep on a good level. The first set wasn't really the way I wanted to play. I didn't move well, so I started to move better, put more balls into the court. That helped me get my rhythm."

Strycova overcame a few moments of frustration to level the match, but Jankovic made a battle of it in the end, saving a match point in the 10th game of the decider. Ultimately, she succumed on Strycova's second match point after two hours and 21 minutes.

"At the end, I was able to win a few more points than her, and that made the difference," Strycova said.

The day isn't over yet for the Dubai Tennis Championships runner-up, as Strycova will return in the final match of the night session to play the winner of another delayed match between No. 5 seed Karolina Pliskova from the Czech Republic, and No. 10 seed Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia. Endit