Jelena Janković
Janković at the 2007 U.S. Open |
| Nickname(s) |
J.J. (in the media),
Jeca (in Serbia), |
| Country |
 Serbia |
| Residence |
Belgrade, Serbia |
| Date of birth |
February 28 1985 (1985--) (age 22) |
| Place of birth |
Belgrade, Serbia
then Yugoslavia |
| Height |
m ({{FORMATNUM:5 ft 9+1⁄2 in}}) |
| Weight |
59 kg (130 lb) |
| Turned Pro |
February 6, 2000 |
| Plays |
Right; Two-handed backhand |
| Career Prize Money |
$3,187,920 |
| Singles |
| Career record: |
263-146 |
| Career titles: |
5 WTA, 1 ITF |
| Highest ranking: |
No. 3 (June 11, 2007) |
| Grand Slam results |
| Australian Open |
4th (2007) |
| French Open |
SF (2007) |
| Wimbledon |
4th (2006, 2007) |
| U.S. Open |
SF (2006) |
| Doubles |
| Career record: |
32-52 |
| Career titles: |
1 WTA |
| Highest ranking: |
No. 43 (November 6, 2006) |
|
Infobox last updated on: September 24,
2007.
|
Jelena Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Јанковић, pronounced [ˈjɛlɛna 'jaːnkɔviʨ];
born on February 28, 1985) is a Serbian professional female tennis player.
Janković entered the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) top 15 in late
2006 when she reached the semi-finals of the US Open.
At the beginning of 2007, she broke into the top 10 in the WTA rankings, and entered the top 3 when
she reached the semifinals of the French Open. She won the Mixed Doubles title at 2007 Wimbledon Championships with partner Jamie
Murray.
Tennis career
Early career
Janković learned her first tennis skills in Tennis Club 'Red Star'.[1] 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, Janković entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three
months later, Janković garnered her first top 10 win against Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4
in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. She then lost to Jill Craybas in three sets in the second round. In May, Janković 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 Suárez. Janković finished
2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.
2005
2005 is considered Janković's breakthrough season. In March, at Dubai, she
advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Janković
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, Janković 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 Vaidišová 7-5, 6-3. Her ranking at the end of the
season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22.
2006
In 2006, Janković lost ten straight matches, not winning a match from late January into early
May. She reached the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters before losing to Venus Williams in three sets. She reached the semi-finals in Strasbourg, retiring against Vaidišová in the second set.
At the French Open, she upset the Number 25 seed Marion Bartoli before losing to World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo 6-3,
6-3. At Wimbledon, she stunned defending champion Venus Williams in three sets in the 3rd round, on the "Graveyard Court." She then lost to
Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 7-6.
Following her run at Wimbledon, she reached her fifth career final at
the JPMorgan Chase Open, defeating Sania
Mirza, Ana Ivanović, and then Serena
Williams in the semifinal, becoming the only player in 2006 to defeat both Williams sisters. Ultimately, she lost to
Elena Dementieva in the final. The final outcome was 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the third set,
Dementieva was actually leading 5-0 before some spirited play and aggressive shot-making earned Janković the next four games.
However, she was unable to even the score and fell short.
At the 2006 U.S. Open, Janković defeated Vaidišová in the third round,
defeated 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth, and beat 2004 US
Open and French Open finalist Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. In the
semifinal, she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, after having been up 6-4 4-2,
and one point away from 5-2 in the match. Janković appeared to lose her focus after arguing with the chair umpire when the umpire
refused to offer an opinion as to whether a service call had been correct, suggesting that Janković could use one of her
electronic challenges. After the self-induced distraction, Janković lost ten consecutive games and a chance to make the
final.
At Janković's first tournament following the U.S. Open, she reached the semifinals at the Tier II China Open, losing to Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. At 6-5
in the third, Janković served for the match, but was broken at 15-40. After Beijing, Janković made the Guangzhou semifinal, retiring against Anna
Chakvetadze 0-2 in the second. Then, in her last four events of the year, she reached the quarterfinals three times,
losing to Kuznetsova, Vaidišová and Poutchkova, respectively.
Due to her success in the latter part of the year, Janković finished the season ranked just outside the Top 10, at No. 12.
2007
To begin the 2007 season, Janković won her second title at the Tier IV ASB Classic tournament in Auckland, New
Zealand, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the finals. In her second tournament, the
Tier II Medibank International event, Janković reached her second
final in a row, defeating 7th ranked Martina Hingis, home favorite Australian
Sam Stosur, No. 1 seed Amélie Mauresmo, and
Nicole Vaidišová along the way for a 9-0 start to 2007. In the final, Janković was
defeated by Kim Clijsters in an intense and controversial match. In the final, Janković
again lost her cool over a number of calls that went against her and ended up losing after serving for the match in the second
set.[2] If Janković had won the finals match against
Clijsters, she would have entered the top 10. She made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she was eliminated by the eventual champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Though
she lost in the fourth round, she entered the top 10 at number 10 for the first time in her career.
At the first Tier I event of the year in Tokyo, Janković defeated Zheng Jie in straight sets in the
second round, but ended up losing to countrywoman Ana Ivanović 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the
quarterfinal. In late February 2007, she entered the 2007 Dubai Tennis
Championships and reached the semi-finals relatively unchallenged, before she retired from the match with an ankle injury
against Amélie Mauresmo. The following week, she continued her streak in the Middle East
at Doha, reaching the semifinals again, losing to Justine Henin in 3 sets; the result brought her ranking to a career-high #9. At Miami, Janković reached the third round before losing to Italian Mara
Santangelo in three sets 6-2, 6-7, 4-6.
Janković kicked off her clay court season as the number two seed at a tournament in
Amelia Island. She lost in the quarter-final to fellow Serb Ana Ivanović in straight sets, 7-5, 6-3. She then travelled to Charleston for the Family Circle Cup, winning her
first Tier I title, defeating Venus Williams in a semifinal match that lasted more than 2
1/2 hours 3-6 6-3 7-6, and defeating Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2, in a match that featured very
windy conditions. That win moved Janković to number 7 in the world rankings.
Janković's next tournament was the J&S Cup in Warsaw,
where she was the number 4 seed. She lost to Justine Henin 5-7, 6-2, 4-6 in the semis.
Although she lost, the result saw her ranking rise to a new high of 6. She then played at the Qatar Telecom German Open where she lost in the quarterfinals to Justine Henin in another 3 set
match 6-3, 4-6, 4-6. Though she was leading 4-0 in the third set, Janković lost the next 6 games.
Janković's next competed at the Tier I tournament in Rome, Italy, the Internazionali BNL d'Italia. Janković came into the tournament as the No.3 Seed, and one of the heavy
favorites to carry home the title. In the final, she successfully defeated, No. 2 seed, Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5, 6-1. The win put Janković as the No. 4 ranked player on WTA Tour, and extended her lead at the top of the Race to the Championships.
As No.4 seed and a heavy favourite in 2007 French Open, she reached another Grand
Slam semi-finals, where among others she defeated Venus Williams and Nicole Vaidišová before falling to Justine Henin in two sets,
6-2 6-2. This was her strongest performance in Roland Garros to date. Her performance in the 2007 French Open brought her ranking up to number 3 on 11th June.
Janković continued her impressive run in this season by capturing the DFS Classic title
in Birmingham, beating first seed Maria Sharapova 4-6, 6-3, 7-5. In the match Sharapova had led a set and a break, as well as 6-4, 3-6,
3-0 before Jelena fought back to win on a Sharapova forehand error. This is her first victory over Sharapova, having lost to her
in the same tournament finals in 2005. Jelena then entered the Ordina Open in the
Netherlands, where she reached the final the following week Janković became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in a year in half a year. In the finals
she ended up losing to Anna Chakvetadze in three sets due to a hamstring injury.
In the ladies singles at Wimbledon this year, Janković seeded third for
the championships, reached the fourth round where she faced Marion Bartoli of France. She
was beaten in 3 sets by eventual finalist Bartoli in a frustrating match for Janković, interrupted by rain four times. Janković
started off well playing big shots freely and won the first set fairly comfortably 6-3. In the second set, Janković seemed to
lose some of her fluidity that she demonstrated in the first set staying on and behind the baseline and using dropshots to try
and win points quickly. The momentum began to shift towards Bartoli and the turning point came when a gradually improving Bartoli
secured 2 games, after a rain delay, to clinch the second set levelling the match at 1 set all. After another rain delay in the
third set, Janković struggled to provide a response to a stalwart Bartoli and was beaten 6-3 5-7 3-6. In the press conference
after the match Janković stated that the rain delays benefited Bartoli, who appeared to be gulping for air at several points in
the match especially after long and gruelling rallies, giving her time to recuperate in the locker room.
She also played in the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon with
doubles specialist Jamie Murray. The pair, who were unseeded, reached the final
after beating three seeded teams (two of them in one day on the second Saturday). They went on to win the title by beating the
fifth seed, Jonas Björkman and Alicia Molik, 6-4,
3-6, 6-1. Playing 6 matches against five seeded teams, Janković and Murray lost a set in five of their six matches but beat three
former top-ranked doubles players and six former Grand Slam doubles champions,
including eventual Wimbledon women's doubles champion Cara Black. In addition, she beat
Olympic gold medalist Sun Tiantian. In the semifinals, the team beat Nestor/Likhovtseva, the 2007 Australian Open mixed doubles champions.
On August 1, Janković qualified for the WTA Tour Championships in
Madrid, Spain. She is currently second in the race behind
Justine Henin who has also qualified.
Janković struggled shortly after Wimbledon, exiting in the third round of the Acura
Classic. There have been suggestions that she is suffering from fatigue.[3] Janković has played an alarming number of tournaments in 2007: as of August 11, she is second in the race but has played 11 more tournaments than Justine Henin. She is the only woman on the tour to have played 20 tournaments, with the next highest
being countrywoman Ana Ivanović on 14. However, Janković maintained that the problem was simply a bout of 'flu and in spite of this reached the semi-final of the East West
Bank Classic, falling to Ana Ivanović. Despite a 6-1, 6-1 triumph over
Peng Shuai she said that "I cannot expect myself to play my best tennis when I am still
blowing my nose on each changeover with paper towels."[4]
On August 19, she reached the finals of the Rogers Cup
in Toronto, where she lost to Justine Henin in a closely
fought contest 7-6(3), 7-5. Jankovic had led 4-1 in the first set as well as 4-2 in the second, but was unable to close out her
opponent whom she had never beaten. The highlight of the match came at 5-5 in the second set with Henin serving 40-0 and then
inexplicably losing three straight points for deuce. There, the two players fought over a marathon eight deuces (Jankovic had 6
chances to break) but the tough-as-ever Henin was able to close it out for 6-5. Jankovic was able to scratch her way from 0-40
triple championship point down in the next game, and saved 1 more during the deuces but finally lost when Henin hit a return,
inside-out forehand winner on her sixth championship point. Henin previously had a match point as well when Jankovic was serving
4-5 (30-40) in the second set. The match took around 2 hrs. and 30 min. to complete.
Janković then competed in the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows. Although she struggled in her first round match, blowing a second
set 5-3 lead, she maintained her cool and beat Jarmila Gajdosova 6-2, 7-6. She proceeded to look completely in-form against Olga
Govortsova winning 6-2, 6-2 before losing a set against French teen superstar Alize Cornet in the third round, winning 4-6, 6-2,
6-3. Jankovic then lost yet another set, this time against Sybille Bammer, before winning 6-4, 4-6, 6-1, which set-up a
quarterfinal match against Venus Williams. Jankovic was 3-2 against Williams, but the older Williams was inspired and won 4-6,
6-1, 7-6(4). Despite a worse showing compared to last year, Jankovic will stay at the No. 3 ranking (Svetlana Kuznetsova will
replace Maria Sharapova at No. 2).
Jelena then travelled to Asia for her next tournaments. her first one was the Bali Grand Hyatt Tournament. Jankovic was the #1
seed there but she lost in the quarters to former World no.1 Lindsay Davenport, who
was playing her first singles tournament after comeback. Davenport ended up winning 6-4,2-6,6-2.
Jankovic then travelled to Beijing for the China Open, where she had some good
results in 2006 that pushed her to the semifinals. She had received a wildcard after top-ranked
Justine Henin withdrew from the event, citing illness. After receiving a bye in the first
round, she shutted out an opponent for the third time in her career, this time Virginia
Ruano Pascual, one of the best doubles players in the world. Janković lost only 4 points in the second set, and those were
all on her serve (meaning she broke Ruano Pascual to love throughout the second set). She then defeated Japanese Akiko Morigami 6-3, 7-5 in a difficult match to set up a rematch with Lindsay Davenport, a player who beat her just one week ago in the quarterfinals of Bali, returning as a former number 1 from child birth to her son Jagger Jonathan. Davenport was on a 8 match
streak, but that was brought to an end, when Janković took control and won in straight sets, 6-3, 7-5. In the final, Janković
faced talented Hungarian teenager Ágnes Szávay and lost to 6-7(7), 7-5, 6-2. [5] She trailed 5-0 in the tiebreak, then faced a couple of set
points before storming to win it and held a comfortable 5-1 lead in the second set (including a match point at 30-40 on Szavay's
serve). However, Szavay then started to play better compared to the first set (cutting the unforced errors) while Jankovic
seemingly got burned out and bothered by a neck injury. Szavay then won eventually.
She returned to action in the Tier II tournament at Stuttgart, and after some initial struggles looked to be in control
against Israeli Shahar Peer, winning 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. She advanced to the semifinals after
defending champion Nadia Petrova, whom she is playing, retired after reaggravating a thigh
injury. Jankovic had lost the first set 7-6(5), but led 5-1 in the second. She will now face Justine Henin.
Playing style
Jankovic 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. In 2007 (as
of October) she played more matches than any other player did and maintained her third rank as well, which is the proof of her
incredible stamina and well-balanced performance.
Personal life
Janković was born in Belgrade, in then Yugoslavia, now Serbia, as the
third child of Veselin and Snežana Janković, both economists. Her father is from Montenegro,
and her mother is Serbian. 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 hiatus as she continues to pursue her tennis career. She trained at tennis club "Red star"
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 crowds
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 Janković and Murray
romantically but she has remained coy about their relationship; despite using kisses as a way of motivating the love stricken
Scot. [6]
WTA Tour and ITF Circuit titles (8)
Singles wins (5 WTA, 1 ITF)
| Legend |
| Grand Slam |
| WTA Championships |
| Tier I (2) |
| Tier II |
| Tier III (1) |
| Tier IV & V (2) |
| ITF Tour (1) |
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
October 19, 2003 |
ITF / Dubai, UAE |
Hard |
 Henrieta
Nagyová |
6-2, 7-5 |
| 2. |
May 2, 2004 |
Budapest, Hungary |
Clay |
Martina
Suchá |
7-6(4), 6-3 |
| 3. |
January 6, 2007 |
Auckland, New Zealand |
Hard |
 Vera
Zvonareva |
7-6(9), 5-7, 6-3 |
| 4. |
April 15, 2007 |
Charleston, United States |
Clay |
Dinara Safina |
6-2, 6-2 |
| 5. |
May 20, 2007 |
Rome, Italy |
Clay |
Svetlana Kuznetsova |
7-5, 6-1 |
| 6. |
June 17, 2007 |
Birmingham, England |
Grass |
Maria Sharapova |
4-6, 6-3, 7-5 |
Doubles wins (1)
Mixed doubles wins (1)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Partnering |
Opponents in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
July 8, 2007 |
Wimbledon, United Kingdom |
Grass |
Jamie Murray |
 Jonas Björkman
 Alicia Molik |
6-4, 3-6, 6-1 |
WTA Tour and ITF Circuit finals
Singles (9)
| No. |
Date |
Tournament |
Surface |
Opponent in the final |
Score |
| 1. |
May 20, 2002 |
ITF / Charlottesville, United States |
Clay |
Erika de Lone |
6-2, 6-4 |
| 2. |
March 5, 2005 |
Dubai, UAE |
Hard |
Lindsay Davenport |
6-4, 3-6, 6-4 |
| 3. |
June 12, 2005 |
Birmingham, United Kingdom |
Grass |
Maria Sharapova |
6-2, 4-6, 6-1 |
| 4. |
October 2, 2005 |
Seoul, South Korea |
Hard |
Nicole Vaidišová |
7-5, 6-3 |
| 5. |
August 13, 2006 |
Los Angeles, United States |
Hard |
Elena Dementieva |
6-3, 4-6, 6-4 |
| 6. |
January 12, 2007 |
Sydney, Australia |
Hard |
 Kim Clijsters |
4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4 |
| 7. |
June 23, 2007 |
's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands |
Grass |
Anna Chakvetadze |
7-6(2), 3-6, 6-3 |
| 8. |
August 19, 2007 |
Toronto, Canada |
Hard |
Justine Henin |
7-6(3), 7-5 |
| 9. |
September 23, 2007 |
Beijing, China |
Hard |
 Ágnes Szávay |
6-7(7), 7-5, 6-2 |
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 Zürich
Open, which ended on October 21, 2007.
| Tournament |
2000 |
2001 |
2002 |
2003 |
2004 |
2005 |
2006 |
2007 |
Career SR |
Career W/L |
| Grand Slams |
| Australian Open |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
2R |
2R |
2R |
4R |
0 / 5 |
7-5 |
| French Open |
A |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
1R |
3R |
SF |
0 / 4 |
7-4 |
| Wimbledon |
A |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
3R |
4R |
4R |
0 / 4 |
8-4 |
| U.S. Open |
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
3R |
SF |
QF |
0 / 4 |
12-4 |
| Grand Slam SR |
0 / 0 |
0 / 0 |
0 / 0 |
0 / 1 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 4 |
0 / 17 |
N/A |
| Grand Slam Win-Loss |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
2-4 |
5-4 |
11-4 |
15-4 |
N/A |
34-17 |
| Olympic Games |
| Summer Olympics |
A |
NH |
NH |
NH |
1R |
NH |
NH |
NH |
0 / 1 |
0-1 |
| Year-End Championship |
| WTA Tour Championships |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
|
0 / 0 |
0-0 |
| WTA Tier I tournaments |
| Tokyo |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
1R |
QF |
0 / 3 |
1-3 |
| Indian Wells |
A |
2R |
A |
1R |
1R |
2R |
2R |
4R |
0 / 6 |
5-6 |
| Miami |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
3R |
2R |
2R |
3R |
0 / 5 |
5-5 |
| Charleston |
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
1R |
1R |
W |
1 / 4 |
6-3 |
| Berlin |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
SF |
1R |
QF |
0 / 3 |
6-3 |
| Rome |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
A |
2R |
QF |
W |
1 / 4 |
9-3 |
| San Diego |
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
3R |
3R |
3R |
0 / 4 |
6-4 |
| Montreal/Toronto |
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
1R |
3R |
F |
0 / 4 |
7-4 |
| Moscow |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
1R |
A |
A |
0 / 1 |
0-1 |
| Zürich |
A |
A |
A |
A |
A |
2R |
2R |
2R |
0 / 3 |
2-3 |
| Career Statistics |
| Tournaments played |
1 |
2 |
7 |
17 |
28 |
29 |
28 |
27 |
N/A |
139 |
| Finalist |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
4 |
N/A |
8 |
| Tournaments Won |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
N/A |
5 |
| Hardcourt Win-Loss |
0-0 |
1-2 |
5-4 |
15-8 |
23-19 |
22-18 |
31-14 |
38-15 |
N/A |
135-80 |
| Clay Win-Loss |
0-0 |
0-0 |
4-3 |
14-7 |
6-4 |
7-5 |
8-7 |
23-4 |
N/A |
62-30 |
| Grass Win-Loss |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
4-3 |
6-3 |
6-3 |
10-2 |
N/A |
26-12 |
| Carpet Win-Loss |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-1 |
3-1 |
1-3 |
0-3 |
1-1 |
N/A |
5-10 |
| Overall Win-Loss |
0-1 |
1-2 |
9-7 |
29-17 |
36-27 |
36-29 |
45-27 |
72-22 |
N/A |
228-1321 |
| Year End Ranking |
N/A |
361 |
194 |
85 |
28 |
22 |
12 |
|
N/A |
N/A |
- 1If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 23-10; Clay: 14-7) participations are included, her overall win-loss record
stands at 265-149.
- A = did not participate in the tournament
WTA Tour career earnings
References
See also
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
| Awards |
Preceded by
Ana Ivanović |
WTA Most Improved Player
2006 |
Succeeded by
TBD |
| Women's Tennis
Association | Top ten female tennis players as of October 15, 2007 |
|
|
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
Liezel Huber
Jamie Murray
Alicia Molik
Ágnes Szávay
.svg)
