Jankovic plays prima donna

TENNIS:Jelena Jankovic once said her looks were "weird". A British journalist described her as having the face of a "Mongolian princess".

Yesterday the high forehead, the long, almond face and the swinging black ponytail illuminated Court One as she staked her claim as the brassy challenger.

It was just a matter of time. That her match was the most competitive in the women's draw so far was only half of the story that had Jankovic playing the lead role; the other half was the resilience of her waspish opponent, Lucie Safarova, determinedly staying in the spotlight until the death.

Safarova was a scene-stealer for sure with her whipping left forehand. But even a Williams or a Maria Sharapova will pall against Jankovic: the fulgent smile, the hissing fits of Serbian directed toward her team in the players' box, the despondent, exaggerated pouts that can be seen from the gods.

Jankovic can play the part of vanquished as well as conqueror during a single game. From the 22-year-old, who has won tournaments in Auckland, Charleston, Birmingham and Rome before coming to Wimbledon, you get pure theatre.

The third seed flirted with defeat in the second set but 20-year-old Safarova could not take her chance. Jankovic then took on the umpire, threw her hands in the air and frowned at the crowd.

She bounced her racquet off the grass and squared up to Hawk-eye, walking toward the giant screen at the back of the court and daring it to turn her challenge down. She challenged six times and won three.

"My father was not there," she said of the players' box she kept engaged in constant conversation. "I really don't know. It was a complete mess. You know, everybody was all over the place. They were quite nervous. They're thinking, 'My god, what is Jelena doing on this court? We can't handle it.'

"At one point I was thinking, 'My god, is there any way out?'"

Midway in the first set, Hawk-eye showed the ball so far out after Jankovic, arguing it was in, had made the challenge that all we could see were the heaving shoulders as she laughed heartily at how preposterous had been her challenge.

And the crowd bought it. They bought in to her sense of ownership of the stadium and her engagement with them, and it kept them in their seats for the entire two hours and 35 minutes.

That it ended in victory for Jankovic, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, will have hurt the younger Czech, who had the capacity to occasionally lift the game and vary the tempo. But some missed volleys and loose points offered Jankovic 11 break points, of which she took four, though not before she gave Safarova the first set on a double fault.

A marathon second set, punctuated by exchanges of 20 and 30 strokes, at one stage had Jankovic on her knees and Safarova hunkered, gasping for air as the crowd rose.

Jankovic levelled the match on a tie-break as her opponent yanked a forehand into the crowd on set point.

After over two hours, it was debatable which player was the more exhausted. Safarova, wearing strapping around her right knee, had started to flag, but it was Jankovic who needed treatment to her left thigh.

Then, providentially, the rain arrived and they were granted a 25-minute break.

Jankovic looked stronger at the end, and though Safarova was still hitting some breathtaking winners, it was Jankovic who seized the moment, breaking for a 4-2 lead on four Czech errors before sweeping the next two games and into the last 16.