How Gloomy Will Jelena Jankovic Get Tonight?

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By Zachary Woolfe

September 2, 2008 | 5:01 p.m

How Gloomy Will Jelena Jankovic Get Tonight?

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Is Jelena Jankovic brutally candid, or a bit depressive?

In ancient Greek times, melancholia was thought to be caused by an excess of black bile in the blood. This has been more or less disproven by modern science.

What ails Jankovic isn't entirely clear. Later tonight, she'll face off against Sybille Bammer in the Quarterfinals. We're wondering where her mind is, so consider the following quotes from press conferences she's given during the past week and a half:

"I'm tired now. I'm actually falling asleep now. It's about time for me to go to bed, but when I was on the court, I really didn't think about sleeping."

"Well, at the moment, you know, I'm healthy, and I don't want to talk about that. I don't have any problems, but I've been struggling throughout the whole year. I had so many injuries and when I started with one, and it was like a chain, you know, my whole body was compensating. I got all these injuries that I never had before."

"It's amazing how quickly you get out of shape, and then it takes you again a lot of time to get back there. And when you start by having one injury, you know, your whole body is compensating and you start having pains in places where I'm not used to."

"So far I had a tough year with injuries, so many injuries, and I was also sick in the middle of the year. So I've been, you know, struggling, because when you have this kind of problems it's tough to train 100%. I finally decided to train, and I have some other problem where I have to rest one week or two weeks, so I lose."

"No, I was just tired, and I couldn't get up. I was so exhausted at that moment. I was breathing hard, and I didn't have the energy to get up. That was the reason I was just lying there without, you know, kind of moving...That was it. I thought I was going to get my dress really dirty, and then that was my biggest concern."

She's collapsing, and in pain, and pessimistic about the future! Is there any light at the end of the tunnel? Well, some:

"Yeah, it's little by little every day I feel that I'm getting better and better. Physically-wise, you know, I feel that I'm moving much better. My condition is getting better and better. I'm feeling the shots a lot better than I did, especially in the beginning of the tournament in the first few rounds."

She will need all the Prozac she can get her hands on before she faces Sybille Bammer.