Caroline Wozniacki overcame a late wobble to take her place in the quarter-finals with a straight sets victory over Jelena Jankovic.
Top seed through in straights after late wobble
Top seed Caroline Wozniacki overcame a late wobble to take her place in the quarter-finals of the Australian Open following a straight sets victory over Jelena Jankovic.
World number one Wozniacki headed into the match with Jankovic - a former number one herself - knowing that she could surrender her top ranking if she lost.
But that didn't look likely after she took a one-sided opening set without dropping game and then surged a double-break clear in the second.
Jankovic recovered to make a fight of it and briefly got herself back on terms, only for Wozniacki to respond again and close out a 6-0 7-5 triumph.
The Dane struck an early blow when she got the better of her rival to break in the opening game of the contest which lasted ten minutes.
Unforced errors
Jankovic fell away badly after that and missed countless groundstrokes, Wozniacki taking full advantage to move a set ahead with relative ease.
It was a similar tale in the second as the Dane charged 4-1 clear with Jankovic unable to find any form of consistency.
But, staring down the barrel, the Serb started to go for her shots and it paid dividends as Wozniacki finally found herself under some sustained pressure.
The top seed still had a chance to serve out at 5-4, but Jankovic saw off a match point and levelled courtesy of a Wozniacki mistake.
But the Serb did not capitalise on her reprieve as Wozniacki claimed another immediate break and, at the second time of asking, served out with Jankovic sending a backhand long to seal her own fate.
"My confidence is high, my fitness is good, I feel like my play is improving so I'm very positive," said Wozniacki. "I thought I played a great set and a half today but then she started to play well."
