INQUIRER Sports

NEW YORK -- World number two Jelena Jankovic struggled but held on to beat Sofia Arvidsson 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 7-5 in the second round of the $20.6-million US Open on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Serbian has reached two semi-finals in Grand Slams this year (French Open and Australian Open) but has never made it to a final in 20 career major appearances.

Jankovic has six career singles titles but just one victory to show for her consistent play. Pesky Swede Arvidsson made Jankovic work for Wednesday's win.

"It was really tough. I am completely out of breath," second-seeded Jankovic said immediately after the two-hour, 45-minute match.

"I was pushed to the limit. The last time I played her, she was up 5-1 in third and I had to come back."

Jankovic moves through to the third round where she will face China's Zheng Jie who beat Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain 6-1, 6-4 on Wednesday. Zheng reached the semi-finals at Wimbledon earlier this year.

Jankovic, who has suffered a string of injuries this year, took a couple of tumbles on Wednesday but got through the match unscathed. Only Jankovic knows how much of her anxiety and anguished facial expressions are real.

"I was concerned I was going to get my dress dirty," she said of one of her spills. "That was my biggest concern."

Beijing Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva beat Pauline Parmentier of France 6-2, 6-1. Dementieva, a runner-up in 2004, is making her 10th straight US Open appearance.

"You have to find a way to win," Dementieva said. "The most important thing is to stay positive in the difficult moments in the match and be able to win even when you feel tired."

Russia's Dementieva, who is ranked sixth in the world, moved through to the third round where she will face Great Britain's Anne Keothavong who surprised 25th seeded Francesca Schiavone 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Third-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova beat 18-year-old Sorana Cirstea 7-6 (7/3), 6-1 on the main Arthur Ashe Stadium.

"It was all about the first set," Russia's Kuznetsova said. "When I got into a dangerous situation so I started moving her around a little bit more. In the second set I was able to gain more confidence."

Another Russian Olympian Vera Zvonareva was sent crashing out of the event, losing her second round match 6-3, 6-3 to unseeded Tatiana Perebiynis.

For the 23-year-old Zvonareva this is the first time she hasn't made it to at least the third round in her sixth US Open appearance.

Zvonareva, who is seeded eighth, collected her sixth career title earlier this year before winning the women's singles bronze at the Beijing Olympics.

Zvonareva was in the same side of the draw as Jankovic and Lindsay Davenport who takes to the court later in the day as part of the evening session.

On the men's side of the draw, an ailing Novak Djokovic overcame an injury to his left foot to defeat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4 in his opening match.

Djokovic reached the final in New York last year where he lost to four-time reigning champion Roger Federer and has won three titles this year including his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open.

The 21-year-old Serbian is also fresh off winning the bronze medal at the Beijing Olympics.

"I played good tennis today, enough to win," Djokovic said Wednesday. "Hopefully I can play even better in the next round."

Djokovic, of Serbia, moves through to the second round where he will face the winner of a match between American Robert Kendrick and France's Nicolas Mahut.

In the third set against Clement, Djokovic twisted his left ankle while lunging for a shot.

At the time he was two sets up and leading 2-1 in the third. After a 10-minute timeout to get the ankle taped, the match resumed with Clement winning the next point to level the final set at 2-2.

But Djokovic cruised from there, winning four of the next five games and clinching the win in straight sets when Clement's final shot sailed long.

Djokovic expects the foot to be almost as good as new in a couple of days.

"It is going to be a good two days," Djokovic said of his ankle. "After it happened I was thinking more of it than I was the pain, so it is not really a big deal.

"But in a certain moment I felt big pain, so I had to get it taped."

In other men's matches, Russian Nikolay Davydenko beat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 and Spain's Nicolas Almagro brushed aside Frank Dancevic, of Canada, 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.