Service game of Sabine Lisicki vs Jelena Jankovic @ Porsche Tennis Grand Prix 2009

Jankovic Video clip Rating: 5 / 5[/random]

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 40th 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.

2012 Texas Tennis Open Finalist Jelena Jankovic Press Conference

Jankovic Video Rating: five / five[/random]

Novak Djokovic and Rafel Nadal set to renew hostilities at the French Open

Andy Murray is expected to draw on his experience as the Grand Slam Champ while he and Ernests Gulbis undertake a frail attempt to put off a French Open final featuring the lethal pair of Nadal-Djokovic. Murray faced the 8 times champ Nadal for the last time back in the year 2011 at the semi finals at Roland Garros, and faced a major defeat against the same. Nevertheless, since then, the Scot has bagged the Wimbledon title sending millions of Brits into frenzy.

This success somehow seems to have convinced Murray that he can pull this feat off which he has only achieved just once in the last decade during the 5 set game on red clay. Talking about his aupcoming match, Murray commented that obviously he knows a thing or two about these tournaments and how to win them, hence he is feeling quite confident about what lies ahead of him on Friday. Murray at present is the 7th seed and hasn’t bagged a title since the glorious July day in London.

Murray further added that he is going to put in his entire effort on the court this Friday and will see how things turn out to be. However that might not be enough to face it off against a man who has a habit of leaving the court with a trophy in his hand each time. Most media pundits are quite convinced that Murray doesn’t have a chance against Nadal to step into the final, however the Spaniard refuses to disregard the chances of the Brit stating that he definitely is a strong contender. Nadal commented that not only Murray looks in great form, and feels that the upcoming match is sure going to be challenging for him.

Jelena Jankovic – Rodionova, Brussels Open Tennis 2011

Jankovic Video clip Rating: 5 / five[/random]

Jankovic Knocked Out By Errani

Jelena Jankovic has been knocked out of the ongoing French Open. She got beaten by the Italian player Sara Errani in the Round of 32 yesterday.

It was not a one sided fixture by any means. Both the players had their chances, but, at the end, it was Errani, who has been a finalist here at Rolland Garros once in the past, managed to get through. The final stats were 7-6(5), 6-2 in Errani’s favour.

The first set was extremely close and either of the two players could have pulled it off. It went Errani’s way eventually after an intense battle of 1 hour and 20 minutes.

The second set was comparatively lesser competitive one. Jankovic looked a bit tired and dropped points easily. Her serve was broken twice by her Italian opponent and she lost the match.

Talking to the reporters in the post match interview, Errani said, “I had to work very, very hard for each and every point. You need to keep your concentration level right up there in these sorts of matches and thankfully, I did that. Clinching the opening set was vital. That set the tone.”

“I have played pretty well here in the recent past. It feels great to be in the round of 8 again. I hope that I get to lift the trophy this time around.”

Errani has not been able to win any Grand Slam singles tournament in her career so far. She has been in the round of 4 twice and in the title round once, but, failed to make it to the trophy on all those occasions.

Errani has, however, 3 Grand Slam doubles title under her belt. Even this year, she has won a doubles Grand Slam title i.e. the Australian Open.