Jankovic gone, Soderling moves on during blustery day at US Open

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Jankovic can’t handle US Open bluster

NEW YORK — Fighting the wind as much as her opponent Saturday, No. 4 seed Jelena Jankovic lost her third-round match at the U.S. Open.

Although Hurricane Earl didn’t bring much rain to the New York area, the remnants of the storm brought wind gusts of up to 25 mph that were playing havoc with the players — starting with Jankovic, who lost 6-2, 7-6 (1) to No. 31 Kaia Kanepi.

“You toss the ball, and it was all over the place,” Jankovic said. “And then you hit the ball one direction, it goes another. You’re just getting ready to hit the ball and it just moves away from you.”

All the players were dealing with the same conditions — it’s just that some of them dealt with them better.

They included No. 5 Robin Soderling, who rolled to a 6-2, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Thiemo de Bakker. No. 14 Maria Sharapova won her first set 6-0 against 18-year-old wildcard Beatrice Capra, who was struggling with the wind.

No. 21 Albert Montanes of Spain advanced when Kei Nishikori of Japan retired in the second set. Nishikori won a five-set, 5-hour match over No. 11 Marin Cilic on Thursday but withdrew from Saturday’s match with a groin injury.

Others scheduled for Saturday included James Blake, who plays No. 3 Novak Djokovic, and No. 2 Roger Federer, whose match was set to follow Sharapova’s.

Venus Williams and Rafael Nadal were the big-name winners on a Friday night that was billed as a washout in the making but finished without a hitch, save a 25-minute rain delay in the afternoon that resulted from the small, and only, band from Earl to sneak into the city.