Jelena Jankovic Progressed to the 2nd Round of Stuttgart WTA Tournament

Former world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic stormed past Dominika Cibulkova from Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 in the first round match of Stuttgart WTA tournament and made it to the second round. Jelena Jankovic was happy with the easy win over Dominika as she said that she had expected a tough match, considering Dominika’s previous performances against Jelena. Well, it was a one-sided match and given Jelena Jankovic’s recent poor run on the court, it was a very important win for the Serbian who is the defending champion in the tournament. Jankovic will take on Sabine Lisicki from Germany in the second round. Lisicki clinched her second round berth, having defeated Patty Schnyder 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. Stuttgart WTA tour event also features the new world no. 1 Dinara Safina and Elena Dementieva.

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AFP

Jelena Jankovic Wins First Title of 2009 at Andalucia Tennis Experience

Jelena Jankovic has won the title of WTA Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament as she defeated Spanish opponent Carla Suarez Navarro 6-3 3-6 6-3 in a three-set final. This has been the first title of the year for the Serbian who started the year at no. 1 in WTA rankling, but a series of poor performances saw her sliding down to no. 4 now. This has also become the 10^th tour title for Jelena Jankovic and she is now hoping a successful clay season ahead of French Open 2009 tournament.

Jankovic did not find it easy to win the tournament final against Navarro who got all the supports of the local fans in her first tour final in her career. Well, Jelena Jankovic clinched the first set 6-3 pretty easily, breaking her opponent twice. However, Carla Suarez Navarro bounced back in the second set to take it 6-3, displaying a number of aces. Jankovic took 5-1 lead in the third set, breaking Navarro on two occasions, but the Spaniard then broke Jankovic once to make it 5-3 before Jankovic winning the deciding set 6-3.

Jelena Jankovic put some optimism in her future while talking to media after the match. The Serbian said that she had not started off well to the year, but the victory in Andalucia had given her back the confidence. She is hopeful that she would be able to continue her success in the rest of the clay season too and she is willing to come back to this tournament again next year.

Jelena Jankovic knows it very well that it would not be very easy for her to retain the no. 1 rank, but it is true that winning the title of Andalucia was badly needed for the Serbian who is now full of confident to do well in the months to come.

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inthenews

Jelena Jankovic vs Carla Suarez Navarro: Andalucia Tennis Experience Final 2009

Jelena Jankovic is going to face Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro in the final of Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament. This is going to be first final for Jelena Jankovic this year which has so far been unimpressive for the Serbian star. En route to final, Jankovic defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues 7-5, 6-2 in Saturday’s semi-final showdown which took 2 hours, 15 minutes to decide one of the finalists. The Serbian star Jankovic faced tough challenge from Garrigues in the first set, before clinching the second one pretty easily. In the whole match, Jankovic broke Garrigues on seven occasions, as opposed to four breaks for Garrigues’ favor.

Carla Suarez Navarro got past seventh seed Romanian Sorana Cirstea in a three-set semi final. Navarro met Jankovic twice so far on professional circuit, and lost on both occasions. Jelena Jankovic defeated Carla Suarez Navarro in the quarter final of last year’s French Open. Now, let us see if Jankovic can hold on to her 100 percent winning record against Navarro and clinch the first title of the year. However, one thing is for sure that Jankovic would go into the match as clear favorite.

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The Canadian Press

Jelena Jankovic Reaches Semi Final of Andalucia Tennis Tournament

World no. 4 Jelena Jankovic has reached the semi final of the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Spain as the Serbian defeated unseeded Roberta Vinci 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in a hard-fought quarter final. Jankovic was not at her best during the match, but the former world no. 1 could bounce back after losing the first set 6-3, having been broken on three occasions. However, Jankovic bounced back in the second set by taking it 6-3, before clinching the third one in a tie-breaker. No doubt, the third set was really exciting, and when it went into the tie-breaker there were many who through Jankovic might be facing a shocking elimination from the tournament. However, the Serbian could hold on to her confidence and clinched the nerve-wrecking tie-breaker, ensuring her place in the semi final where she will face Anabel Medina Garrigues who also won a three-set affair against sixth seeded Sara Errani. Garrigues defeated Sara 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 7-5 en route to tournament semi final.

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UPI.com

Jelena Jankovic Progressed into the Quarter Final of Andalucia Tennis Championships

Serbian star Jelena Jankovic defeated Selima Sfar from Tunisia 6-3 6-0 on Tuesday to reach the quarter final of Andalucia Tennis Championships. The score line suggests how convincingly Jankovic saw off Sfar and made it to the last eight of the tournament. Following Serena Williams’ surprise elimination at the hands of Klara Zakopalova, Jankovic is now the highest ranking player left in the tournament.

Jankovic did not have any success since the turn of the year. However, the world no. 4 of WTA ranking now seems to be in the right track to come back in her prime form in the tournament. She will face Italian Roberta Vinci in the quarter final, in her bid to reach the semi final of tournament.

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Reuters

Jelena Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic Reached Second Round of Australian Open 2009

The top seed of women’s singles of Australian Open 2009, Jelena Jankovic progressed to the second round of the tournament as the current world no. 1 defeated Yvonne Meusberger of Australia in straight sets 6-1, 6-3. With this victory, Jankovic started the tournament well. Fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic has also got off to a good start to her Australian Open 2009 campaign. The reigning champion of French Open edged past Germany’s Julia Goerges 7-5, 6-3.

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bloomberg

Australian Open 2009 Top Seeds: Rafael Nadal, Jelena Jankovic

Men’s world no. 1 Rafael Nadal and women’s world no. 1 Jelena Jankovic have become the top seeds of upcoming Australian Open 2009. Spanish star Nadal had an excellent year back in 2008 as he won French Open, Wimbledon and Olympic Gold medal last year, and thus, replacing Roger Federer atop the ATP ranking. Serbian tennis Jankovic also achieved the no. 1 spot of WTA ranking last year thanks to her excellent consistency on the tour, even though she could not win any grand slam title yet.

Among the 32 top ranked players of ATP ranking, Nikolay Davydenk is missing the tournament due to his injury problem, while defending champion of women’s singles of Australian Open, Maria Sharapova, has also withdrawn herself from the tournament due to her shoulder injury. Chinese tennis star Li Na is also missing the tournament through injury. Defending champion of men’s singles, Novak Djokovic, is the third seed in the tournament with former world no. 1 Roger Federer being the second pick for Australian Open 2009.

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bloomberg

Ana Ivanovic Losing Number One Ranking

Are you a fan of Ana Ivanovic? If so, then a terrible bad news is waiting for you. You know that after winning French Open, Ana Ivanovic became the number one player in world tennis. She lost badly in Wimbledon 2008m but it did not destroy her number one ranking. Now, it seems that she is going to lose the top spot next week to Jelena Jankovic.

CNN reported:

Jankovic will replace fellow Serbian compatriot Ana Ivanovic, who will have held the No. 1 spot for nine weeks. French Open champion Ivanovic was the first Serbian to achieve the feat when she took over from Russia's Maria Sharapova on June 9.

The announcement came after the 23-year-old Jankovic thought she had missed her fourth opportunity this year to reach the summit following her shock defeat by 19-year-old Dominika Cibulkova in the Rogers Cup quarterfinals in Montreal.

I am happy for Jelena Jankovic. She really deserves to be number one. She is serious and professional and focused for on her Tennis. On the other hand, Ana Ivanovic gives perhaps equal attention to Tennis and becoming a sexy celebrity.