Serbian Jelena Jankovic ran into a spot of bother as she reached the third round of the French Open with a 6-2 3-6 6-4 win over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi on a soggy day at Roland Garros Thursday.

The fourth seed, twice a semi-finalist at Roland Garros, breezed through the first set in a buttercup yellow dress but she withered in the second set as Kanepi levelled the match.

Rain returned early in the third set, causing a 55-minute delay, but Jankovic managed to wrap up the win after two hours and four minutes when Kanepi sent a forehand long just before the tarpaulins were dragged back on to centre court.

Jankovic will next face Ukrainian 27th seed Alona Bondarenko. Jelena leads 9:1 against Bondarenko, but Alona won their last match at the Australian Open in January.