Jelena Jankovic is a Serbian tennis superstar born on February 28, 1985 in Belgrade. She is the only daughter and third child to her parents besides two sons Marko and Stefan. Her father is Veselin and mother Sne?ana who mostly accompany her in her major world tours. She was first introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko at the age of nine and half year old and learned her first skills in Red Star Tennis Club.
She was a student of Megatrend University in Belgrade, studying economics but as she gets more engrossed to tennis, she was compelled to sideline her studies. As she became a prominent name in tennis world representing her country, she was chosen as UNICEF national Ambassador for Serbia for Children’s fund on December 5, 2007. On being chosen she said "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." It was Ana Ivanovic, world’s second ranked player who was chosen as UNICEF National Ambassador on September to promote the rights of children and collect funds for UNICEF before Jelena Jankovic.
Jelena is a toughest player among her counterparts and she is popularly known for her defensive abilities and footwork. While on court she can slide on all surfaces a characteristic feature seen in fewer players. Her signature shot is her two-handed backhand down the line, she can hit her backhand any angle from her court position and is able to hit effective drive, but she is little poor on her serve and opponent could easily become attackable and make the game on their side.
Tennis Career
After her training at Red Star Club, she later joined Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. She participated in 2001 French Open in junior section and become a winner. She then started taking part in Women’s Tennis Association tour and reached in second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters in 2001.
In 2003, she won her first ITF in Dubai and this win took her to top 100 positioning her in 90th position. Again in 2004 Australian Open, she defeated Elena Dementieva 6–1, 6–4 in the first round but lost the game to Jill Craybas in three sets in the second round. She was fortunate enough that she won her first WTA title, a Tier V event in Budapest in the month of May defeating Martina Suchá in the final 7–6, 6–3, and that win bring her up to 51st position in WT ranking.
Jelene saw a significant improvement on her ranking in year 2004, she defeated top 20 players Nadia Petrova twice and Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder and Paola Suarez in different events and she by the year end she was in 28th position in the world.
Year 2005 proved to be a great breakthrough for Jelena as she reached to the final of many events. IN a mach in Dubai in March, she reached the final after the retirement of Serena Williams in the semifinal but failed to win the game and defeated to Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. She then reached to first Tier I semifinal in Berlin but defeated by Nadia Petrova 6–4, 6–7, 6–3. Again in the grass court final at Birmingham, she lost the match to Maria Sharapova 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. By the end of the year she was in 22nd position.
2006 Australian Open started with a first match success but she 10 straight consecutive matches, she then reached to the quarterfinals of Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome but lost to Venus Williams in three sets. Again in French Open , she was
successful in sidelining 25th-seeded Marion Bartoli but soon overpowered by World No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo in the third
round 6–3, 6–3. At Wimbledon she defeated sixth seeded and defending champion
Jelena Jakovic reached her fifth career final at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles and en route defeated tenth-seeded Ana Ivanovic in the quarterfinals and unseeded Serena Williams in the semifinals but eventually lost to Elena Dementieva in the final. She reached up to the semifinal at the U.S. Open but lost the match against Justine Henin 4–6, 6–4, 6–0. Following the U.S Open she reached the semifinal of Tier II China Open but the game to Mauresmo 6–1, 3–6, 7–6.
Year 2007, proved to be a busiest year for the star and she played maximum games than any of her counterparts. Beginning of the year was great as she won her second title at the Tier IV ASB Classic in Auckland, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final. This win is followed by the final in Tier II Medibank International in Sydney defeating World No. 7 Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo but unfortunately lost the game to Kim Clijsters.
She gave a spectacular performance at the Australian Open and reached to the fourth round but sadly she was dismissed by champ Serena Williams 6–3, 6–2 and her ranking also rose up to #10, first time in her career. After reaching many quarterfinals and semifinals, she ultimately won DFS Classic title in Birmingham defeating Maria Sharapova for the first time in her career. At Wimbledon she could not make her way up to the final but won the double title defeating Jonas Bjorkman and Alicia Molik, in the final 6–4, 3–6, 6–1 taming up with Jamie Murray. In August, she reached the final of Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto but eliminated by Henin and in U.S. Open, she lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 4–6, 6–1, 7–6(4). At the end of the year, she went for a nose surgery to correct her breathing problem and remain out of the court without practicing for three weeks. All together, she played around 30 matches and became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in the first half of a year.
Beginning of 2008 was not a success for this stunning player, she teamed up with Novak Djokovic to play for Serbia at the Hopman Cup but lost the game to the American team of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish. At Austration Open, she reached to the quarterfinal defeating defending champion Serena Williams 6–3, 6–4, but unfortunately lost to Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–1.
She again played two games in the Middle East, first being the Tier I Qatar Total Open in Doha where she lost to Li Na 6–3, 6–4, again she participated in Tier II Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Jankovic lost in the semifinals to Svetlana Kuznetsova 5–7, 6–4, 6–3.
Jankovic then took part in Tier II Canara Bank Bangalore Open '08 in India, but she was beaten in the quarterfinals by Yan Zi of China 6–3, 3–6, 6–3. At Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she defeated 24th-seeded Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinals but ultimately defeated by compatriot Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals 7–6(3), 6–3. She reached the final of Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, but she lost the game to Serena Williams 6-1, 5-7, 6-3.
