Jelena Janković
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Jelena at the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championship |
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Country | Serbia | |
Residence | Bradenton, Florida, USA | |
Date of birth | February 28, 1985 (age 22) | |
Place of birth | Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia | |
Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.77 m) | |
Weight | 130 lb (59 kg) | |
Turned Pro | 2001 | |
Plays | Right; Two-handed backhand | |
Career Prize Money | $1,868,157 | |
Singles | ||
Career record: | 211-132 | |
Career titles: | 2 WTA, 1 ITF | |
Highest ranking: | No. 9 (March 05, 2007) | |
Grand Slam results | ||
Australian Open | 4th (2007) | |
French Open | 3rd (2006) | |
Wimbledon | 4th (2006) | |
U.S. Open | SF (2006) | |
Doubles | ||
Career record: | 29-45 | |
Career titles: | 1 | |
Highest ranking: | No. 43 (November 6, 2006) | |
Jelena Janković (pronounced: YELL-e-nah YAN-ko-vich, Cyrillic: Јелена Јанковић; born on February 28, 1985 in Belgrade) is a Serbian professional female tennis player.
She entered the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) top 15 in late 2006, when she reached semi-finals at US Open. At the beginning of 2007, Jelena broke the top 10 in the WTA rankings.
Contents |
[edit] Family life
She was born February 28, 1985 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 is a student at the Megatrend University in Belgrade.
[edit] Career
[edit] Early career
The first tennis moves Jelena has learned in Tennis Club 'Red Star'.[1] As a nine-and-a-half year old she was introduced to tennis by elder brother and fitness coach Marko and later she was trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior she won 2001 Australian Open. From 2001, she started to play on WTA Tour, with her first tournament at Indian Wells Masters, when she reached second round.
In October 2003, Jankovic entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three months later, Jankovic garnered her first top 10 win against Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4 in the first round at the 2004 Australian Open. She then lost to Jill Craybas in three sets in the second round. Then in May, Jankovic won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Sucha in the final 7-6, 6-3. Following the run 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. Jankovic finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.
[edit] 2005
2005 was considered Jankovic's breakout season. In March, at Dubai, Jankovic advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Jankovic then lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. She then made her first Tier I semifinal in Berlin, losing to Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. In June, Jankovic reached her first grass court final at Birmingham, but she lost to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In October, Jankovic reached her third final of the year at Seoul, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at the time, losing to 16-year-old Nicole Vaidisova 7-5, 6-3. Her season ending ranking eclipsed her 2004 record, at No. 22.
[edit] 2006
In 2006, she had a horrific start to the year, losing ten straight matches, not winning a match from late January into early May, when she got to the quarterfinals of the Italian Open before losing to Venus Williams in three sets. She then reached the semis in Strasbourg, retiring against Vaidišová in the second set.
At the French Open, she upset the Number 25 seed Marion Bartoli before losing to 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 JP Morgan Chase Open, defeating Sania Mirza, Ana Ivanović, and Serena Williams in the semifinal, becoming the only player in 2006 to defeat both Williams sisters. She lost to Elena Dementieva in the final. The final outcome was a close 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the third set, Dementieva was actually leading 5-0 before some spirited play and agressive shot-making earned Jankovic the next four games. However, she was unable to even the scoreline and fell just short.
At the 2006 US Open, she defeated Vaidisova in the third round, took out 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 a point away from 5-2. Jankovic lost her train of thought after arguing with the chairperson over an out service call; it was later proven the ball was actually out.
At Jankovic's first tournament following the US Open, she reached the semifinals at the Tier II China Open, losing to Amelie Mauresmo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. At 6-5 in the third, Jankovic served for the match, but was broken at 15-40.
After Beijing, Jankovic 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, Vaidisova, and Poutchkova in them.
[edit] 2007
To kick off her 2007 season, Jankovic 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, at the Tier II Medibank International event, Jankovic reached her second final in a row, defeating 7th ranked Martina Hingis, Australian home favorite Sam Stosur, No. 1 seed Amelie Mauresmo, and Nicole Vaidisova for a 9-0 start to 2007. In the final, Jankovic was defeated by Kim Clijsters in an intense and controversial match. In the final, Jankovic 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 Jankovic 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, when she got eliminated to the eventual champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Though she lost in the fourth round, she has 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, Japan, Jankovic defeated Zheng Jie in straight sets in the second round, losing to countrywoman Ana Ivanović 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinal. In late February 2007, Jelena entered the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championship and reached the semi finals with ease, 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 up to a career-high of #9.
[edit] WTA Tour titles (3)
[edit] Singles wins (2)
Legend |
Grand Slam (0) |
WTA Championships (0) |
Tier I (0) |
Tier II (0) |
Tier III (0) |
Tier IV & V (2) |
No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Opponent in the final | Score |
1. | May 2, 2004 | Budapest, Hungary | Clay | Martina Suchá | 7-6(4), 6-3 |
2. | January 6, 2007 | Auckland, New Zealand | Hard | Vera Zvonareva | 7-6(9), 5-7, 6-3 |
[edit] Singles runner-ups (5)
- 2005: Dubai (lost to Lindsay Davenport) 6-4, 3-6, 6-4
- 2005: Birmingham (lost to Maria Sharapova) 6-2, 4-6, 6-1
- 2005: Seoul (lost to Nicole Vaidišová) 7-5, 6-3
- 2006: Los Angeles (lost to Elena Dementieva) 6-3, 4-6, 6-4
- 2007: Sydney (lost to Kim Clijsters) 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4
[edit] Doubles wins (1)
No. | Date | Tournament | Surface | Partnering | Opponents in the final | Score |
1. | June 18, 2006 | Birmingham, Great Britain | Grass | Na Li (PR China) | Jill Craybas (United States) & Liezel Huber (South Africa) |
6-2 6-4 |
[edit] 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 Amelia Island in Florida, which will end on April 9, 2007.
Tournament | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | Career SR | Career W/L |
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Australian Open | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 2R | 2R | 4R | 0 / 5 | 7-5 |
French Open | A | A | A | A | 1R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 3 | 2-3 | |
Wimbledon | A | A | A | A | 1R | 3R | 4R | 0 / 3 | 5-3 | |
U.S. Open | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | SF | 0 / 3 | 8-3 | |
Grand Slam SR | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 0 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 4 | 0 / 1 | 0 / 14 | N/A |
Grand Slam Win-Loss | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 2-4 | 5-4 | 11-4 | 3-1 | N/A | 22-14 |
WTA Tour Championships | A | A | A | A | A | A | A | 0 / 0 | 0-0 | |
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 | 0 / 3 | 1-3 | |
Berlin | A | A | A | A | A | SF | 1R | 0 / 2 | 3-2 | |
Rome | A | A | A | 1R | A | 2R | QF | 0 / 3 | 3-3 | |
San Diego1 | A | A | A | A | 2R | 3R | 3R | 0 / 3 | 5-3 | |
Montreal/Toronto | A | A | A | A | 2R | 1R | 3R | 0 / 3 | 3-3 | |
Moscow | A | A | A | A | A | 1R | A | 0 / 1 | 0-1 | |
Zurich | A | A | A | A | A | 2R | 2R | 0 / 2 | 2-2 | |
Tournaments played | 1 | 2 | 7 | 17 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 9 | N/A | 124 |
Finalist | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | N/A | 5 |
Tournaments Won | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | N/A | 2 |
Hardcourt Win-Loss | 0-0 | 1-2 | 5-4 | 15-8 | 23-19 | 22-18 | 31-14 | 20-6 | N/A | 117-71 |
Clay Win-Loss | 0-0 | 0-0 | 4-3 | 14-7 | 6-4 | 7-5 | 8-7 | 2-1 | N/A | 41-27 |
Grass Win-Loss | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-1 | 4-3 | 6-3 | 6-3 | 0-0 | N/A | 16-10 |
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 | 23-8 | N/A | 178-1171 |
Year End Ranking | N/A | 361 | 194 | 85 | 28 | 22 | 12 | N/A | N/A |
Green background for wins. Yellow background for top-8 (quarter finals up to finalist).
1 If ITF women's circuit (Hardcourt: 23-10; Clay: 14-7) participations are included, overall win-loss record stands at 216-135.
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Official site (Serbian) (English)
- WTA Tour profile for Jelena Jankovic
- Profile on tenniscorner.net
- Profile on FutureTennisStars.com
- United Athletes Magazine Interview with Jelena (from Nov 2006).
Preceded by Ana Ivanović |
WTA Most Improved Player 2006 |
Succeeded by TBD |
Women's Tennis Association | Top ten female tennis players as of April 9, 2007 | |||||
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