Tennis career
Early career
Janković 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, 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 Nicole 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," a win many cite as a turning point in Jankovic's career. 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 year, Janković 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, Janković defeated World No. 7 Martina Hingis and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo on the way to the final. There, she lost to Kim Clijsters after Janković served for the match in the second set.[2] 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.
Jelena Janković at the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships.
Jelena Janković at the 2007 Dubai Tennis Championships.
At the first Tier I event of the year in Tokyo, Janković lost in the quarterfinals to countrywoman Ana Ivanović 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, Janković again reached the semifinals, losing to Justine Henin in three sets. To complete the spring hard court season, Janković lost in the third round of the Tier I tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida to Italian Mara Santangelo 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.
Janković then started her clay court season at Amelia Island, Florida, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Ivanović 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, Janković then lost to Henin three times and won one tournament. At the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Janković lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. At the Qatar Telecom German Open, Janković lost to Henin in the quarterfinals 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after failing to hold a 4-0 lead in the third set. Janković next won her second career Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Janković was the fourth seed at the French Open. She defeated Venus Williams and Nicole Vaidišová, 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, Janković captured the DFS Classic title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova led 3-0 in the third set before Janković rallied to win the match. This was her first career victory over Sharapova. The next week, Janković 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.[citation needed] Janković, suffering from a hamstring injury, lost the final to Anna Chakvetadze. At Wimbledon, Janković 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, Janković teamed with doubles specialist Jamie Murray to win the title by beating the fifth-seed team, Jonas Björkman and Alicia Molik, in the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.
During the North American summer hard court season, Janković lost in the third round of the Tier I Acura Classic in San Diego. Janković 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 Ivanović. Janković said, "I cannot expect myself to play my best tennis when I am still blowing my nose on each changeover with paper towels."[3] In August, Janković reached the final of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she lost to Henin on Henin's sixth match point. Janković had led 4-1 in the first set and 4-2 in the second set but was unable to maintain her lead. At the U.S. Open, Janković lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).
Janković practicing at The 2007 U.S. Open
Janković practicing at The 2007 U.S. Open
To complete her hectic playing year, Janković 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, Janković 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, Janković received a wildcard into the tournament after top-ranked Henin withdrew due to illness. In the second round, Janković defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-0, the third time in her career she had won a match without losing a game. Janković lost only four points during the second set, all on her own serve. In the semifinals, Janković beat Davenport 6-3, 7-5 but lost in the final to Hungarian teenager Ágnes Szávay after Janković had a match point in the second set.[4]
After a two week break, Janković then played three consecutive weeks but won only two matches. At the Tier II tournament in Stuttgart, Janković lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-6(2), 7-5. Janković then retired from her first round match in Bangkok with Yan Zi. After a first round bye at the Zürich Open, Janković lost to Vaidišová 6-4, 6-4.
Janković took a three week break before playing the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid. However, Janković lost all three of her round robin matches, to Henin, Chakvetadze, and Bartoli (retiring in the second set after losing the first set).
Janković had successful nose surgery immediately after Madrid to correct a breathing problem. The surgery prevented her from practicing for three weeks.
2008
Janković stated that she would cut back on her schedule during 2008 and focus on Grand Slam and Tier I events
Instead of defending her title in Auckland, Janković joined Novak Đoković in playing for Serbia in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition team event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. In the final, Janković and Đoković lost to the American team of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish, with Janković unable to play her singles rubber because of injury.
In her final preparation event for the Australian Open, the Medibank International in Sydney, Janković lost in the third round to Nicole Vaidišová.
Her first match at the Australian Open was against Tamira Paszek, which Janković won 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in three hours, fifteen minutes.[5] Both players needed medical attention during the final set.[6] Janković 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, Janković lost to Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1.
Playing style
Janković 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 defence. 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. Janković has very consistant groundstrokes and likes to go down the line more often than crosscourt. Her signature shot is a 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.
Personal life
Janković was born in Belgrade, in then Yugoslavia, now Serbia, as the third child of Veselin and Snežana Janković, both economists. 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 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 Janković 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
On December 5, 2007, Janković 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. Janković is the second Serbian tennis star to have volunteered to help promote the rights of children and collect funds for UNICEF after Ana Ivanović, the world's second-ranked player, became an ambassador in September
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