Jelena Jankovic | The New York Observer

Jankovic Out in a Day of Upsets

Thu, 03 Sep 2009 18:38:27 -0400

"What's going on?" someone called from the stands late this afternoon at Arthur Ashe Stadium, speaking for a crowd stunned by huge, back-to-back upsets. Directly after Melanie Oudin's win over Elena Dementieva, another of the stars of the women's game fell in the second round. Jelena Jankovic, the runner-up here last year who, like Dementieva, has never won a major, lost to 21-year-old Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6 . It was a...

What Happened to the Power Serbs?

Tue, 01 Sep 2009 12:28:59 -0400

Was it just two years ago that we did a cover story on the Serbian tennis players who we predicted would take the city by storm?

Because they haven't.

Last year, we watched Novak Djokovic transform himself from a New York hero into a villain after he gave a cringe-inducing post-match speech at Arthur Ashe (where Richard Johnson booed him). When his Open run ended in the semifinals last year, he explained to the press that...

Serena Williams Wins Third Open, Ninth Grand Slam Title

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 23:57:16 -0400

Experience prevailed tonight.

Serena Williams defeated Jelena Jankovic in an often nervous but ultimately riveting match 6-4, 7-5.

It lasted over 2 hours, including a 1 hour, 17 minute second set that brought everything to the table: dramatic rallies, set points saved, a match point saved, key errors and stirring winners.

For Serena, it was a coronation of a long road traveled back to the top spot (literally--she's now the no. 1 player in the world)....

Serena and Jelena, in Primetime

Sun, 07 Sep 2008 20:37:53 -0400

In less than an hour, Anita Baker will be on that red carpet singing "America the Beautiful," and shortly thereafter, it'll be time for Serena and Jelena.

It is, also, bigger than a Saturday night match or a Sunday evening match--the traditional time for the women's and men's finals, respectively--and the biggest primetime slot ever dedicated for tennis: 9 p.m., CBS, Sunday night (the only other primetime Sunday night match was that ridiculous "Battle...

Nadal-Murray Supsended Mid-Match, Women's Final Canceled, Play Resumes Tomorrow

Sat, 06 Sep 2008 16:36:22 -0400

Play for the rest of the day has been canceled.

This means the Rafael Nadal-Andy Murray semifinal--which Murray currently leads 6-2, 7-6, 2-3--will resume tomorrow at 4pm, with coverage on CBS. Women's tennis will have its biggest stage ever, with a primetime 9pm final tomorrow night on CBS. The winner of the Nadal-Murray match will play Roger Federer in the men's final on Monday at 5pm....

Is Serena Really a Lock?

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 17:07:24 -0400

Everyone is saying that this is Serena's tournament to lose, but is that fair?

Serena has lost to both Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic this year. She lost to Safina at the Qatar Telecom German Open, a match which ended in a third-set tiebreaker. And she lost to Jankovic at the Australian Open in straight sets (though Serena has also recently beaten her, at the Sony Ericsson Open).

Safina and Serena are underway now at Ashe,...

Jankovic Moves to Her First Grand Slam Final, Wants a Protein Drink

Fri, 05 Sep 2008 16:53:06 -0400

The occasionally gloomy Jelena Jankovic is headed to her first Grand Slam final after defeating Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4, in a sloppy, nervous match. In total, there were 8 breaks of serve and 66 unforced errors.

Jelena Jankovic calmly strolled to the locker room after the match--generally a moment heavy in emotions--like it was an easy third-round win. Dinara Safina, who is about to play Serena Williams for the other spot in the finals, was...

The Late Show

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:54:15 -0400

Novak Djokovic got his first test of the tournament this afternoon, and now it's Roger Federer's turn. Federer and Igor Andreev have nabbed a set each (at 7-6) and Federer is up a break in the third. At this point, we'll start the women's match at about 8:30, Roddick's match at 10:30, and we'll all be going home well after 1...

How Gloomy Will Jelena Jankovic Get Tonight?

Tue, 02 Sep 2008 17:01:23 -0400

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...

Jankovic Stays Up

Fri, 29 Aug 2008 13:45:18 -0400

The first of our questions for the day has been answered, as Jelena Jankovic not only stayed standing, but won in straight sets, 7-5, 7-5, over Jie Zheng. It wasn't easy, though, and those two sets took over two hours. Jankovic will play her first seeded player in the Round of 16; her opponent will be either Victoria Azarenka (14) or Caroline Wozniacki (21), who play later...

"oh Jelena Jankovic we love you get up" --F. O'Hara

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 17:28:37 -0400

Jelena Jankovic has suffered from leg injuries for much of this year, and she had something of a scare in the third set of her second-round match against Sofia Arvidsson, when she was down on the court for about 30 seconds without sound or movement. But it didn't seem leg-related: "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...

Blake Brought Down to the Wire: Nighttime Session Wrap--up

Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:48:09 -0400

In an all-American first-round matchup under the lights at Arthur Ashe Stadium, 9th-seeded James Blake had to slog through five dramatic sets against the promising 19-year-old Donald Young before finally prevailing, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4. Blake's serve held strong and his net game remained impressive, though the number of unforced errors from both of these hard-hitting players was high. Young was able to dictate play and move ahead at key intervals, but ultimately...

Power Serbs! Are the 2007 Sweethearts of Queens the 2008 Prima Donnas?

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:29:13 -0400

2007 was the year of the Serbian invasion of Flushing. Novak Djokovic became an overnight celebrity; we called Ana Ivanovic the savior of women's tennis thanks to her refreshingly grounded personality; Jelena Jankovic cemented a reputation as a tireless grinder whom the press adored.

And then this year got off to such a great start! Djokovic won his first Grand Slam in Australia and Ana Ivanovic won her first major at Roland Garros.

But since then, those beaming personalities and sparkly...

After Defeat, Venus is Tired But No One Knows Why

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 19:52:18 -0400

What's wrong with Venus Williams?

"I just was feeling dizzy, a little sick to the stomach," she said. "Was just having some energy problems. I'm not really sure what's wrong with me."

Neither does anyone else. After making 56 unforced errors in her agonizingly close quarterfinal match with Jelena Jankovic, Venus made 35 this afternoon—compared to 26 winners—in a straight-sets loss to Justine Henin.

Williams said she's been feeling strange—dizzy, tired, depleted—since she...

Jankovic Handicaps Venus-Henin

Fri, 07 Sep 2007 01:30:59 -0400

As Jelena Jankovic was picking up some final things at Arthur Ashe Stadium yesterday after her loss to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals, I asked her if Venus needed to pick up her level of play to beat Justine Henin later today, especially since she made 56 unforced errors in their match.

Jankovic offered this: "I think Venus likes to play Justine. Venus doesn’t like to play me. She is always very nervous against me...

Imperfect Venus Goes Through

Thu, 06 Sep 2007 00:22:24 -0400

It wasn't a work of art from Venus in her match against Jelena Jankovic. She hit 56 unforced errors and had 8 double-faults. But when it came to a deciding third-set tiebreaker, she played her best tennis of the night.

"I felt really strong in the tiebreak, I felt fairly fresh," she said, "and I stopped missing, so that helped."

By contrast, Jankovic made errors at the key point and said she was so...

Jankovic Loses, and Smiles

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 23:05:10 -0400

Last night, Serena Williams spoke bitterly, and somewhat gracelessly, to the media after a devastating quarterfinals loss to Justine Henin. Tonight, Jelena Jankovic lost in the quarterfinals, and her public reaction couldn't have been more different. Here are some highlights:

"I think it's nice to be fair, to give credit to the opponent. When she hits a great shot, why not? Nothing wrong with smiling also on the court."

"I don't think you have...

Jankovic Lifts Her Game [UPDATED]

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 20:14:11 -0400

Jelena Jankovic took advantage of a sluggish Venus Williams early in the first set and propelled herself to a 6-4 first set win. Venus Willimas was spraying balls and hitting sloppy errors. Venus found energy by the end of the set, but the wayward shots were still there. In the first set, Williams had 18 unforced errors and 3 double faults.

We've got a match.

UPDATE: The sleeping giant is up. Venus Williams just took the...

Jankovic on Lifting Her Game for Venus

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 17:55:11 -0400

Jelena Jankovic and Venus Williams just finished hitting some last-minute balls on the practice courts before their quarterfinal match tonight.

Jankovic was walking back into Arthur Ashe Stadium when she told me how she could win tonight. “I’m gonna have to lift my game from where it’s been over the last few matches,” she said.

Jankovic has played in two consecutive three-set matches, while Venus Williams has cruised to the quarters...

First Women's Semifinal Set

Wed, 05 Sep 2007 14:45:46 -0400

While everyone buzzes about the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match later tonight, the semifinal on the bottom half is now set. It's the battle of Russians, if not exactly notable (or pronouncable) names. 2004 U.S. Open champ Svetlana Kuznetsova will take on Anna Chakvetadze.

Both won easily today: Chakvetadze beat Shahar Peer 6-4, 6-1; Kuznetsova beat Agnes Szavay 6-1, 6-4.

One good thing for the USTA to make up for the lack of star power:...

USTA Bumps Venus-Jankovic Match

Mon, 03 Sep 2007 19:41:59 -0400

No doubt freaked out that Svetlana Kuznetsova or Anna Chakvetadze would be the marquee players for a quarterfinals match on primetime on Wednesday night, the USTA just announced it has bumped the Venus Williams-Jelena Jankovic match from Tuesday to Wednesday.

Chris Widmaier, a senior public relations director for the USTA, met earlier this evening with a scrum of about 30 reporters, saying that the decision was made by the USTA and not the cable network...

Stat of the Day: Jelena Jankovic

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 18:03:04 -0400

Number of Match Points Jelena Jankovic had today: 7

She blew six of them, took the last to win her match 6-2, 7-6.

"Today I was really nervous, for some reason," she said.

She elaborated on something she told us earlier about her massive playing schedule:

"I am very tired. It's almost coming the end of the year. I'm not in the greatest shape. This is the last Grand Slam of the year, so I would like...

Courts to Watch Today

Mon, 27 Aug 2007 08:00:03 -0400

Each morning here at the Observer's U.S. Open blog we're going to tell you what to look out for in the day's action. Today's tip: arrive early!

The heavy-hitters -- Jelena Jankovic, Justine Henin, Roger Federer -- will steal the spotlight at Arthur Ashe today. But you know how these first-round matches go: some of them are over in 40 minutes. If you have a pass that lets you into Arthur Ashe, don't be late.

The Hard-Working Jelena Jankovic

Sun, 26 Aug 2007 21:10:07 -0400

We've written about Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, but we haven't mentioned the other Serbian making a major impact on the current field: the 22-year-old no. 3 player in women's tennis, Jelena Jankovic. Jankovic's ranking has rocketed this year due to a remarkably extensive playing schedule. She's played 80 matches in 2007, compared to Justine Henin's 48 and Maria Sharapova's 42. Jankovic, who kicks off her US Open play today against Jarmila Gajdosova, said...