Jelena Jankovic Biography
Summary
"Jelena Jankovi?" (, pronounced: YELL-e-nah YAN-ko-vich) (born February 28, 1985) is a Serbian professional female tennis player. She is a former World No. 1 player and, as of September 22, 2008, is ranked World No. 2. As of October 6, 2008, Jelena will once again return to the World No. 1 ranking.
Jankovi? has reached the singles final of the US Open and the singles semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open. In 2007, she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with British partner Jamie Murray.
Tennis career
Early career
Jankovi? learned her first tennis skills in Tennis Club 'Red Star'. As a nine-and-a-half year old she was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko. She was later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior she won the 2001 Australian Open. In 2001, she started to play on the WTA Tour; she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters.
In October 2003, Jankovi? entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three months later, Jankovi? garnered her first top 10 win against Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. In May, Jankovi? won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Suchá in the final 7-6, 6-3. Following her win in Budapest, she reached No. 51 in the world. Elsewhere in her 2004 season, she defeated top 20 players Nadia Petrova (twice), Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder and Paola Suarez. Jankovi? finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.
2005
2005 is considered Jankovi?'s breakthrough season. In March, at Dubai, she advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Jankovi? then lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. She made her first Tier I semifinal in Berlin, losing to Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. In June, she reached her first grass court final at Birmingham, but lost to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In October, Jankovi? reached her third final of the year in Seoul, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at that time, losing to 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3. Her ranking at the end of the season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22.
2006
After winning her first round match at the Australian Open, Jankovi? lost ten straight matches, not winning a match from late January into early May. She then reached the quarterfinals of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome before losing to Venus Williams in three sets. The following week, she reached the semifinals in Strasbourg, retiring against Nicole Vaidisova in the second set.
At the French Open, Jankovi? upset 25th-seeded Marion Bartoli before losing to World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the third round 6-3, 6-3. At Wimbledon, she upset sixth-seeded and defending champion Venus Williams in the third round 7-6(8), 4-6, 6-4. She then lost to ninth-seeded Anastasia Myskina in the fourth round 6-4, 7-6(5).
During the North American summer hard court season, Jankovi? reached her fifth career final at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, defeating tenth-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals and unseeded Serena Williams in the semifinals before losing to third seeded Elena Dementieva in the final. At the US Open, Jankovi? defeated World No. 10 Vaidisova in the third round, World No. 7 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, and World No. 5 Dementieva in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-1. In the semifinals, Jankovi? lost to Justine Henin 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 after Jankovi? had led 6-4, 4-2 and was one point from leading 5-2. Jankovi? argued with the chair umpire when the umpire refused to offer an opinion as to whether a service call had been correct, suggesting that Jankovi? use one of her electronic challenges. Jankovi? then lost ten consecutive games.
At Jankovi?'s first tournament following the US Open, she reached the semifinals of the Tier II China Open, losing to Mauresmo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 after Jankovi? served for the match at 6-5 in the third set. The following week, Jankovi? reached the Guangzhou semifinals, retiring against Anna Chakvetadze while trailing 7-5, 2-0. In her last four tournaments of the year, she lost to Kuznetsova, Vaidi?ová and Olga Poutchkova in the quarterfinals of three of them and to Kuznetsova in the second round of the other one.
Jankovi? finished the year ranked World No. 12.
2007
To begin the year, Jankovi? won her second title at the Tier IV ASB Classic in Auckland, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final. At the Tier II Medibank International in Sydney, Jankovi? defeated World No. 7 Martina Hingis and top-seeded Amelie Mauresmo on the way to the final. There, she lost to Kim Clijsters after Jankovi? served for the match in the second set. She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she was eliminated by the eventual champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Because of her results at these tournaments, her ranking rose to World No. 10, the first time she had been included in the top ten.
At the first Tier I event of the year in Tokyo, Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals to countrywoman Ana Ivanovic 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, she retired from her semifinal match with Mauresmo because of an ankle injury. The following week in Doha, Jankovi? again reached the semifinals, losing to Justine Henin in three sets. After that, she played at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California where she was eliminated by Na Li in the fourth round 6-3, 7-6(1). To complete the spring hard court season, Jankovi? lost in the third round of the Tier I tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida to Italian Mara Santangelo 2-6, 7-6, 6-4, despite holding a 6-2, 5-2 lead.
Jankovi? then started her clay court season at Amelia Island, Florida, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Ivanovic 7-5, 6-3. She then won her first career Tier I title, at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, defeating Venus Williams in the semifinals 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 and Dinara Safina in the final. On European red clay, Jankovi? then lost to Henin three times and won one tournament. At the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. At the Qatar Telecom German Open, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the quarterfinals 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after failing to hold a 4-0 lead in the third set. Jankovi? next won her second career Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Jankovi? was the fourth seed at the French Open. She defeated Venus Williams and Nicole Vaidisova, among others, before falling to Henin in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. Her results at these six clay court tournaments increased her ranking to World No. 3.
On grass, Jankovi? captured the DFS Classic title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova led 3-0 in the third set before Jankovi? rallied to win the match. This was her first career victory over Sharapova. The next week, Jankovi? reached the final of the Ordina Open in the Netherlands and became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in the first half of a year. Jankovi?, suffering from a hamstring injury, lost the final to Anna Chakvetadze. At Wimbledon, Jankovi? was the third-seed but lost in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. In the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon, Jankovi? teamed with doubles specialist Jamie Murray to win the title by beating the fifth-seed team, Jonas Bjorkman and Alicia Molik, in the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
During the North American summer hard court season, Jankovi? lost in the third round of the Tier I Acura Classic in San Diego. Jankovi? blamed her loss on the flu. In spite of her illness, she reached the semifinals of the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California the next week, falling to Ivanovic 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 after Jankovi? led 4-1 in the third set and had two match points at 5-4 in that set. Jankovi? said, 'I cannot expect myself to play my best tennis when I am still blowing my nose on each changeover with paper towels.' In August, Jankovi? reached the final of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she lost to Henin on Henin's sixth match point. Jankovi? had led 4-1 in the first set and 4-2 in the second set but was unable to maintain her lead. At the US Open, Jankovi? lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).
To complete her hectic playing year, Jankovi? traveled to Asia for two tournaments, Europe for one tournament, back to Asia for one tournament, and finally back to Europe for two tournaments.
At the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, Jankovi? was upset in the quarterfinals by former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. This was Davenport's first singles tournament since giving birth. The following week at the China Open in Beijing, Jankovi? received a wildcard into the tournament after top-ranked Henin withdrew due to illness. In the second round, Jankovi? defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-0, the third time in her career she had won a match without losing a game. Jankovi? lost only four points during the second set, all on her own serve. In the semifinals, Jankovi? beat Davenport 6-3, 7-5 but lost in the final to Hungarian teenager Ágnes Szávay after Jankovi? had a match point in the second set.
After a two week break, Jankovi? then played three consecutive weeks but won only two matches. At the Tier II tournament in Stuttgart, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-6(2), 7-5. Jankovi? then retired from her first round match in Bangkok with Yan Zi. After a first round bye at the Zürich Open, Jankovi? lost to Vaidi?ová 6-4, 6-4.
Jankovi? took a three week break before playing the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid. However, Jankovi? lost all three of her round robin matches, to Henin, Chakvetadze, and Bartoli (retiring in the second set after losing the first set).
Jankovi? had successful nose surgery immediately after Madrid to correct a breathing problem. The surgery prevented her from practicing for three weeks.
2008
Instead of defending her title in Auckland, Jankovi? joined Novak Djokovic in playing for Serbia in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition team event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. In the final, Jankovi? and Djokovic lost to the American team of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish, with Jankovi? unable to play her singles rubber because of injury.
In her final preparation event for the Australian Open, the Medibank International in Sydney, Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals to Nicole Vaidisova.
Her first match at the Australian Open was against Tamira Paszek, which Jankovi? won 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in three hours, fifteen minutes. Both players needed medical attention during the final set. Jankovi? then reached the quarterfinals for the first time, defeating defending champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4. In her third career Grand Slam singles semifinal, Jankovi? lost to Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1.
Jankovi? then played two tournaments in the Middle East. At the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha, Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals to Li Na 6-3, 6-4. The next week at the Tier II Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Jankovi? lost in the semifinals to Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 6-4, 6-3. Jankovi? played one more Asian event, the Tier II Canara Bank Bangalore Open in India. Although she was the top seeded player, she lost in the quarterfinals to Yan Zi of China 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Jankovi? was the third seed and defeated 24th-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals when Davenport retired from the match with a shoulder and back injury after losing the first set. Jankovi? then lost to fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals 7-6(3), 6-3. The following fortnight, Jankovi? was the runner-up at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, losing to Serena Williams 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 after Williams was unable to convert on seven match points in the third set.
Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals of her next two Tier I tournaments, the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina (where she was defending champion) and the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. Jankovi? then successfully defended her Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia title in Rome. She defeated Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, advanced by walkover against Sharapova in the semifinals, and defeated French teenager Alize Cornet in the final. This was Jankovi?'s first singles title of the year.
At the French Open in Paris, Jankovi? would have become the World No. 1 had she defeated Ivanovic in the semifinals. However, Ivanovic won the match 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. Jankovi? failed to hold leads of 3-0 in the first set and 3-1 in the third set, although she did win the second set after trailing 3-1. Jankovi? committed 51 unforced errors compared to 28 winners during the match.
On grass, Jankovi? withdrew from the DFS Classic in Birmingham, United Kingdom because of an arm injury sustained during the French Open. Nevertheless, she replaced Sharapova as World No. 2 following the tournament. At Wimbledon, Jankovi? was the second seeded player and defeated Caroline Wozniacki in the third round despite injuring her left knee. Because of early round losses by other highly ranked players, Jankovi? only needed to reach the semifinals to replace Ivanovic as World No. 1. However, she lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the fourth round 6-3, 6-2.
Jankovi? lost her third opportunity to grasp the World No. 1 ranking at the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles when she lost to Dinara Safina in the semifinals 7-6(3), 6-1.
At the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montreal, Jankovi? had a fourth chance to claim the World No. 1 ranking. Because Ivanovic had lost in the third round, Jankovi? only needed to reach the final to replace Ivanovic as the top ranked player. However, Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals to Dominika Cibulkova 7-5, 6-2 after Jankovi? had led 4-0 in the first set. After the match, Jankovi? said, 'At the moment I don't deserve the top spot. I am not in the best shape, I am not at my highest level'.
Despite the loss, Jankovi? moved up to World No. 1 on August 11, 2008. She is the 18th woman to have been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association. She is the first woman to have attained that ranking without ever having reached a Grand Slam final and only the third woman (the others being Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters) to have become World No. 1 without first winning a Grand Slam title. Serbia is only the third nation (the others being Belgium and the United States) to have had consecutive World No. 1 female players. Jankovi? then lost her World No. 1 ranking on August 18, 2008, to Ivanovi?.
At the Beijing Olympics, Jankovi? was seeded second and played the tournament with a sore right calf muscle that caused her to consider withdrawing. Jankovi? defeated Cibulkova in the third round but lost to sixth-seeded Safina in the quarterfinals 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.
Jankovi? was the second-seeded player at the US Open. She defeated fifth-seeded Elena Dementieva in the semifinals 6-4, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam final, where she lost to fourth-seeded Serena Williams 6-4, 7-5.
Jankovi? then lost in the quarterfinals of the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo to Kuznetsova 2-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Jankovi? has beaten Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-3, 6-2 in the final of the China Open to win her second tournament of the year. In the semis, she defeated Olympic bronze medalist, Vera Zvonareva, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Jankovic played in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, where she defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals 6-7 (8-10), 7-5, 6-2, and Nadia Petrova in the final 6-4, 6-3. This was her second title in two weeks.
Records against other players
Record against other top 10 players
The following is Jankovi?'s win-loss singles record against other players included in the top 10 of the Women's Tennis Association rankings as of October 6, 2008.
Elena Dementieva 5-3
Venus Williams 5-3
Vera Zvonareva 5-3
Serena Williams 3-4
Dinara Safina 2-3
Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-4
Agnieszka Radwanska 1-0
Maria Sharapova 1-4
Ana Ivanovic 1-6
Record against other players (active and retired)
The following is Jankovi?'s win-loss singles record against other selected players according to the Women's Tennis Association on June 9, 2008.
Anna Chakvetadze 3-6
Nicole Vaidisova 3-6
Martina Hingis 2-0
Patty Schnyder 2-1
Lindsay Davenport 2-4
Daniela Hantuchova 2-1
Amelie Mauresmo 1-5
Justine Henin 0-9
Playing style
Jankovi? is often regarded as one of the fittest and toughest players in recent years of women's tennis for her great defensive abilities and footwork, which classifies her as a counterpuncher. Jelena is known for being one of the few players who can slide on all surfaces, further enhancing her defense. In 2007, she played more matches than any other player and maintained her third rank as well, which is the proof of her incredible stamina and well-balanced performance. Jankovi? has very consistent ground strokes and likes to go down the line more often than crosscourt. Her signature shot is her two-handed backhand down the line; she hits it with excellent pace and can drive it deep for an outright winner and also the fact that she can hit her backhand any angle from her court position. She also has a solid forehand and a decent net game, being able to hit effective drive, drop and swinging volleys. Her main weakness is the fact her serve is very attackable. She likes to spin it in on the first and second serve which can lead to her getting broken many times in matches against good baseline players. She has however shown some improvement in this area, hitting several of her serves over 100 mph.
Personal life
Jankovi? was born in Belgrade, in then Yugoslavia, now Serbia, as the third child of Veselin and Sne?ana Jankovi?, both economists. Her mother is from Serbia and her father is from Montenegro. She also has two brothers, Marko and Stefan. She is a student at the Megatrend University in Belgrade, studying economics; however, she has put her course of study on indefinite hold as she continues to pursue her tennis career. She trained at tennis club 'Crvena Zvezda'.
At Wimbledon 2007, in a mixed doubles match at the semi-final stage she invited a ballboy to come and sit with her and began asking him questions, much to the crowd's amusement. Though the boy was clearly enjoying himself, he swiftly jumped out of the chair when a riled Jamie Murray returned from his toilet break. The British press have linked Jankovi? and Murray romantically but she has remained coy about their relationship, though she joked in interviews that she used kisses as a way of motivating the Scot.
In September 2008, Jelena Jankovic announced that she has been dating Montenegrian water polo player Mla?an Janovi? since August 2008. Two of them said that they have been dating since 2008 Summer Olympics.
On December 5, 2007, Jankovi? has become a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, for Children's Fund. 'I am happy to have become a UNICEF ambassador for Serbia. This is a great honour for me and I will try to justify the role that has been given to me', she said. Jankovi? is the second Serbian tennis star to have volunteered to help promote the rights of children and collect funds for UNICEF after Ana Ivanovic became an ambassador in September.
Endorsements
Jankovi? endorses Reebok sportswear and has her own line with them for her tournament wear. Jankovi? also has an endorsement with Prince Sports and now uses the Prince O3 Speedport Pro White Racquet after formerly using the Prince O3 Red Racquet. She is the face of the Serbian fashion design company "Mona" with her own line of clothing.
Singles performance timeline
"To prevent confusion and double counting, information in this table is updated only once a tournament or the player's participation in the tournament has concluded. This table is current through the 2008 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, which ended on October 5, 2008."
1 Won three qualifying matches to reach the main draw.
2 She lost in the second round of the qualifying tournament.
3 She lost in the third round of the qualifying tournament.
4 She lost all three of her matches during the round robin phase of the tournament.
5 This table includes tournaments that were classified on the WTA Tour as Tier I at the time they were held, regardless of whether those tournaments are still being held or are still classified as Tier I.
6 Won two qualifying matches to reach the main draw.
7 She defaulted her third round match, which counts as a walkover but does not count as a loss on her official record.
8 Her win-loss record includes all matches listed on the (WTA website) , including challenger and all (Fed Cup) matches (the WTA website omits her 2008 Fed Cup matches).
WTA Tour career earnings
* - As of September 28, 2008
External links
(United Athletes Magazine) Interview with Jankovi? (from November 2006).
(Live Info about Jelena Jankovic)
Credit
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article about Jelena Jankovic.
