Jelena Janković on the way

Jelena Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Јанковић, pronounced born on February 28, 1985) is a Serbian professional 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.

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 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. Janković finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.

2005

2005 is considered Janković's breakout 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 Vaidisova 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 Italian Open 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 JP Morgan 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 US Open, Janković defeated Vaidisova 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 lost her train of thought after arguing with the chairperson over a service call judged out; it was later proven the ball was indeed out.

At Janković'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, 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, Vaidisova, 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 Amelie Mauresmo, and Nicole Vaidisova 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.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.
Amélie Mauresmo and the chair umpire rush to a fallen Jelena Janković at the Dubai Tennis Championship 2007.
Amélie Mauresmo and the chair umpire rush to a fallen Jelena Janković at the Dubai Tennis Championship 2007.

At the first Tier I event of the year in Tokyo, Japan, 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 Championship 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 Ivanovic in straight sets, 7-5 6-3. She then traveled 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 quaterfinals 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 Vaidisova before falling to Justine Henin in two sets, 6-2 6-2. This is her strongest performance in Roland Garros to date. Her performance in the 2007 French Open brings her ranking up to break the top 3 barrier at number 3, when it is released 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. She is currently at Wimbledon Championship as a third seed in ladies singles.