Jankovic takes a spill in Charleston

While playing Melanie Oudin in Charleston today, Jelena Jankovic got her foot stuck in the clay and fell down, but of course, she took the spill as only JJ could.

After a moment, Jankovic recovered, and said later she thought she was going to break her leg or her back. "...it...happened so fast. I was going to hit a part of a volley and I tried to slide and somehow my leg got stuck and I just rolled, I rolled over and I was on the ground, but I was lucky I didn't--I just fell on my butt, and my butt, it is not so small so I got quite a good cushion. If I was a bit skinnier, that would be a problem, but now I'm okay."

Oudin made Jankovic play three sets, and the crowd became excited when the Georgia native saved three match points on her own serve. Oudin used her drop shot very effectively against Jankovic. She missed very few of them, and repeatedly got points off of Jankovic by dropping her. Jankovic said later that she just wasn't moving that well and she wasn't sure why. In the end, though, JJ got enough errors out of her opponent to advance to the second round with a 6-4, 5-7, 6-4 victory.

It was an entertaining match, and went on for just a few minutes shy of three hours. Oudin said she it was the best match she has played this year.

Jankovic and Oudin have now played each other three times, and Oudin has beaten Jankovic twice, and both of those times, they played on grass. "I don't like her game," Jankovic told the media, and then, laughing, hastened to explain she meant that Oudin's game always gives her trouble.