Jelena Jankovic(Serbian Cyrillic) Serbian pronunciation: born February 28, 1985 in Belgrade) is a former World No. 1 Serbian professional tennis player. She has reached one Grand Slam final (at the 2008 US Open) and is currently ranked World No.

Family and early life

Jankovic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia, as the third child of Veselin and Snezana, two economists.[citation needed] Her mother is from Serbia and her father is from Montenegro (Vasojevici clan). 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. Jankovic learned her first tennis skills at the 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.[citation needed] She was later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri.[citation needed] 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.

Tennis career

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 of the 2004 Australian Open. 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 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. Jankovic finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.

She was ranked World No. 1 for seventeen consecutive weeks until she was overtaken by Serena Williams on February 2, 2009. She was the year-end World No. 1 in 2008, the first player in the history of the WTA tour to do this without winning a Grand Slam title.

Jankovic has reached the singles final of the US Open and the singles semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open. In 2007, she became the first Serbian player to win a Grand Slam Title when she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with British partner Jamie Murray.

2010

Jankovic started the 2010 season in Sydney. She lost in the first round to Agnes Szavay, 7–5, 1–6, 5–7 having been seeded 7th for the tournament. During the Australian Open, Jankovic, seeded eighth, defeated opponents Monica Niculescu and Katie O'Brien in straight sets before losing to number 31-seed Alyona Bondarenko in the 3rd round.

Next, Jankovic represented Serbia in the 2010 Fed Cup. In her first match, she rallied from 4–6, 1–4 down to defeat Alisa Kleybanova 4–6, 6–4, 6–0. In her next Fed Cup match, she defeated reigning French Open Champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 4–6, 6–3. In the deciding doubles match, she partnered with Ana Ivanovic. Ivanovic and Jankovic fell to Kuznetsova and Kleybanova. Her next scheduled tournament was the 2010 Dubai Tennis Championships. Having a first round bye, she defeated Aravane Rezaï 4–6, 6–4, 7–5. She then lost to Vera Zvonareva in the third round, causing her ranking to fall to 9th in the world.

Jankovic's next tournament was the 2010 Monterrey Open, where she was the top seed. She fell in the first round. Next, she traveled to Indian Wells, California for the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. At the tournament, she was seeded sixth and defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–4 to take the title.

Jankovic's next tournament was the 2010 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was seeded 7th. In the fourth round, she lost to Samantha Stosur 1–6, 6–7(9), ending her 8-match win streak.

Jankovic's next tournament was the 2010 Family Circle Cup where she was seeded second. She lost in the quarterfinals to Daniela Hantuchova.

At the Fed Cup qualifying, Jankovic defeated Slovakia's Magdalena Rybarikova in her first singles match, but fell to Hantuchova in her second. Jankovic and Bojana Jovanovski then fell to Rybarikova and Hantuchová in the deciding doubles match.

Jankovic was the fourth seed at the 2010 Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. She lost against Justine Henin in the quarterfinals 6-3 6-7(4) 3-6, for the tenth time in a row.

Jankovic was the seventh seed at the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia. In the quarterfinals she produced one of her most polished performances to thrash fourth seed Venus Williams 6–0, 6–1, with Williams suffering her heaviest loss in her career, having never won less than two games in a match. She then beat reigning World No. 1 Serena Williams in the semi-finals, after being down 5–2 in the final set tie-breaker 4–6, 6–3, 7–6(5) in 2 hour and 47 minutes. As a result of defeating these two opponents, she became one of the few women in the history of women's tennis to defeat both Williams sisters in the same tournament. And first player who beat both sisters in less than 24 hours in one tournament. However, she was then shocked by unseeded María José Martínez Sanchez and lost in the final 6–7(5), 5–7. Nevertheless, her ranking increased to world No.

Seeded 7th, Jankovia received a first round bye at the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open and defeated compatriot Ana Ivanovic 4-6 6-4 6-1 in the second round after being down 4-6 0-2. She lost in the quarter-finals to eventual champion Aravane Rezai 5–7, 4–6.

Jankovics next tournament was 2010 French Open where she was seeded No. 4. In the first round, she defeated Alicia Molik 6–0, 6–4, then Kaia Kanepi 6–2, 3–6, 6–4 in the second round, and then Alyona Bondarenko in the third round 6–4, 7–6(3). In the fourth round, she defeated Daniela Hantuchova 6–4, 6–2, who had already defeated Jankovic twice that year on clay. In the quarterfinals, Jankovic defeated Yaroslava Shvedova 7-5, 6-4, for a spot in her third semifinal at Roland Garros. Her run ended in the semifinals to Samantha Stosur, 6-1, 6-2. Two weeks later, her ranking will increase to world No. 3 due to Caroline Wozniacki's first round loss at 2010 AEGON International, where she was the top seed and defending champion.

Her next scheduled tournament is 2010 Wimbledon Championships, where she will be No. 4 seed. She defeated hometown favorite Laura Robson in the first round and plays Aleksandra Wozniak in the second.

Playing style

Jelena 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,[citation needed] 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.[weasel words] In 2007, she played more matches than any other player[citation needed] and maintained her third rank as well, which is the proof of her incredible stamina and well-balanced performance.[weasel words] Jankovic 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. She also has a solid forehand and a decent net game, being able to hit effective drive, drop and swinging volleys. Her main weakness was her serve but during off season 2009-2010 she changed her serve motion to produce more power and that work out.[citation needed] 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.[weasel words]Her weakest surface is considered grass despite her DFS title. Her best surface is a fast hard court ( like US open courts) where she can use her excellent timing and speed to win matches

Personal life

Jankovic was the subject of the 2008 autobiographical documentary, Jelenin svet (Jelena's World), featuring Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Ana Ivanovic, Elena Dementieva and other notable players. The British press have linked Jankovic and Jamie 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, Jankovic announced that she has been dating Montenegrian water polo player Mladan Janovic since August 2008. The pair had been dating since the 2008 Summer Olympics. On December 5, 2007, Jankovic became 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. Jankovic 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.