After a tough battle of three hours, a classic trait in her matches against Francesca Schiavone, Jelena Jankovic reached the quarterfinals of the Guangzhou WTA event and, more importantly, the 600th win in her career.
She is the third active player to reach this feat, after Serena and Venus Williams, and the 16th in the Open Era. These figures speak of a long-lived career for the former world No. 1, who is perhaps only lacking a Grand Slam title to her collection. The winner of tournaments like Indian Wells, Rome (twice) and Beijing and able to finish five seasons in the top 10, Jankovic has never managed to conquer a Grand Slam, reaching the final only once in the 2008 US Open Championships and losing it against Serena Williams.
She will face Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals in a contest between former top players who, regardless of the advancing age and of the rankings, often produce high-level matches, as evidenced by their balanced head-to-head that sees Jankovic having the lead with 7 wins to 6.
