Jankovic To Face Keys

Jelena Jankovic will be locking horns with Madison Keys of USA tomorrow in the opening round of the AEGON International Tennis Tournament.

Jankovic is one of those players who are not comfortable playing on grass at all. Her overall record on the green surfaces is quite ordinary.

In her 14-year long professional career so far, the Serbian has not entered the Round of 8 in the Wimbledon Championships even once which is enough to suggest how she has performed on grass over the years.

Jankovic’s numbers in Eastbourne where the AEGON International is to be played are even poorer. The veteran player has not won even a single match at that venue. She’s been there in that tournament on a couple of occasions in the past and on both those occasions; she got knocked out from the first round. In 2005, she was defeated by the Belgian Kim Clijsters, while, in 2009, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia showed her the exit door.

While talking to the reporters yesterday, Jankovic admitted that she was a bit weak on the grassy surfaces.

The Serbian said, “My performance has been the worst on grass and I am fully aware of it. Things happen quickly on grass than any other court. You need to keep up with the pace of the surface which I haven’t done so far. But, whenever I play on grass, I try to enjoy myself. That’s very important for you to do as a player.”

As far as Keys is concerned, she is a rapidly rising player who has come a long way since turning professional back in 2009. She is presently at the 40^th position in the world rankings. She is quite capable of pulling off an upset against Jankovic especially on grass. So, it’s hard to pick a favourite here.