Rome: Eugenie Bouchard piled more misery on Jelena Jankovic by winning the first-round matchup of former top-10 players 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 in the Italian Open on Tuesday.
Jankovic won this clay-court tournament in 2007 and 2008, but has gone three months without reaching a quarterfinal.
Bouchard, the 2014 Wimbledon runner-up, slipped in the rankings last year but has rebounded with two finals this season.
"I knew it would be a tough battle," Bouchard said. "I realized that she started controlling too many points, so in the third set I decided no matter what, even if I make a couple more mistakes, I need to step in and go for it. That made the difference."
Bouchard next faces Australian Open champion Angelique Kerber.
Later, Serena Williams met 51st-ranked Anna-Lena Friedsam.
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