Jelena Jankovic lay sprawled on her stomach in the middle of the court for several moments. Was she hurt? Maybe a reoccurrence of the knee injury sustained at Wimbledon?

"No, I was just tired, and I couldn't get up," the No. 2 seed said after her three-set victory in the second round of the US Open on Wednesday in New York.

"I was so exhausted at that moment. I was breathing hard, and I didn't have the energy to get up."

Jankovic is still rounding back into shape after the injury. Her lack of conditioning and an array of hard forehands and well-placed drop shots by Sweden's Sofia Arvidsson left Jankovic fighting to get her wind during the 2-hour, 44-minute match at Arthur Ashe Stadium.

She was relieved to muster enough energy to pull out a 6-3, 6-7 (5), 7-5 win.

"For me to play three hours, it's amazing at this moment, because I haven't been training as hard as I want to," Jankovic said. "I'm now training to get that, but it takes time. It's not going to happen overnight."

China's Zheng Jie, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, eliminated No. 26 Anabel Medina Garrigues 6-1, 6-4 and moved into the third round to face Jankovic.

Li Na, also of China, defeated Sara Errani 4-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Eighth-seeded Andy Roddick, who has battled a shoulder injury this summer, won his opening match in straight sets. He beat Fabrice Santoro - the oldest man in the draw at 35 - 6-2, 6-2, 6-2.

The match ended with Santoro thinking Roddick had tried to hit him with the ball. Roddick said that wasn't the case and he would try to seek out Santoro to clear the air.

Still, Roddick was pleased with his performance.

"I was really excited about the way I was playing and glad with the way I served because I haven't been serving that well," the American said. "If I can do that, I like my chances of holding which puts pressure on the other guy."

While Jankovic escaped an early exit, No. 8 seed Vera Zvonareva couldn't. Zvonareva was upended by Tatiana Perebiynis 6-3, 6-3 in the tournament's biggest upset yet.

No. 3 Svetlana Kuznetsova shook off an early break and rallied to a 7-6 (3), 6-1 victory over Sorana Cirstea. Fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva advanced over Pauline Parmentier 6-2, 6-1. No. 12 Marion Bartoli of France, No. 14 Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and No. 15 Patty Schnyder of Switzerland also won.

Former champ Lindsay Davenport, the No. 23 seed, beat Alisa Kleybanova 7-5, 6-3.

No. 25 Francesca Schiavone was knocked out by Anne Keothavong 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

In men's first-round play, No. 3 seed Novak Djokovic shook off an injury to his left ankle in the third set and beat Arnaud Clement 6-3, 6-3, 6-4. Djokovic rolled the ankle while going for a shot on the right sideline in the fourth game. After receiving on-court treatment, he wrapped up the match with a break of Clement's serve.

Fifth-seeded Nikolay Davydenko beat Dudi Sela 6-3, 6-3, 6-3 Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, the No. 19 seed, moved on with a 6-7 (3), 6-4, 6-2, 6-3 win over Santiago Ventura and No. 18 Nicolas Almagro beat Canadian Frank Dancevic 6-3, 6-4, 7-5.

Kuznetsova, the 2004 champion and No. 3 seed this year, trailed 4-2 in the opening set before getting back on serve and eventually forcing a tiebreak that she dominated against her inexperienced opponent. She cruised to a 5-0 lead in the second and closed out the match in 1 hour, 13 minutes. "Here you feel special, like I've made it here," Kuznetsova said. "It's an amazing feeling. I just play much more confident."

(Agencies via Shanghai Daily August 29, 2008)