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Jankovic advances to Indian Wells semis

Serbian Jelena Jankovic reached the semifinals on Thursday at the Inidan Wells WTA tournament with a straight sets victory over Alisa Kleybanova.
Former world No. 1 Jankovic, the sixth seed, beat the Russian 6- 4, 6-4 to reach the semifinals for the second time in nine appearances. In 2008 she fell in the semis to compatriot Ana Ivanovic, who went on to win the title.
Kleybanova, who ousted former world number one Kim Clijsters of Belgium in the third round, had Jankovic under pressure on her serve throughout the opening set, but couldn\’t convert any of her four break points.
Serving for the set, Jankovic double-faulted twice to give Kleybanova one last opportunity, but the Serbian won the next three points to take the set.
Kleybanova, ranked 27th in the world, gained the first break of the second set for a 4-2 lead, but she gave it back in the next game with the aid of two double-faults.
Jankovic came up with solid service game when she needed it, holding at love to level the set at 4-4 as she won the last four games of the match.
Jankovic, owner of 11 WTA titles, has played sparingly this year and hadn\’t made it past the third round. She parted with coach Ricardo Sanchez earlier this month.
\”I think every win that I\’m getting gives me a lot of confidence,\” Jankovic said. \”I feel that I\’m coming back, and my game is getting better and better. It gives me more motivation.\”
The second quarterfinal comes between eighth-seeded Australian Samantha Stosur and Spain\’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.