Second seed Jelena Jankovic struggled to avoid the upset fate which befell top-seeded compatriot Ana Ivanovic the day before, fighting past China's Zheng Jie 7-5, 7-5 on Friday at the US Open. ( dpa )
Jankovic booked into the fourth round at the final Grand Slam of the season, but took two hours, 10 minutes to go through in a dramatic afternoon on court.
The Serb failed to serve out a straightforward win leading a set and 5-4.
Instead, the 37th-ranked Zheng set up a battle which only ended with an 18-minute final game stretching to 11 deuces.
Jankovic went through on her fifth match point after double- faulting away her fourth to next play either 14th seed Victoria Azarenka of Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki.