Alona Bondarenko defeats Jelena Jankovic

Jankovic no match for Bondarenko

A “clogged-up” Jelena Jankovic has refused to blame ill health for her upset loss in the third round to speedy Alona Bondarenko of the Ukraine on Friday.

Jankovic was never in the hunt as Bondarenko matched the eighth-seed’s power and chased down more balls to progress to the fourth round with a 6-2 6-3 win at Hisense Arena.

“Unfortunately today really wasn't my day. You know, I was hitting some balls short, and then some balls I went for maybe a little bit too much. I made a lot of errors that I shouldn't have made,” Jankovic explained after the match.

Bondarenko started strongly, breaking Jankovic in the opening game. But the world No.8 struck back in the fourth game, breaking Bondarenko after the latter let a 40-0 lead slip and handed the game to Jankovic after a series of unforced errors.

More unforced errors turned the momentum in Bondarenko’s favour as Jankovic missed a simple volley on the way to dropping serve. At the change of ends, Bondarenko focused on holding serve while Jankovic reached for the tissues.

Bondarenko didn’t look back as she snatched the next three games and the opening set 6-2.

The second set was a similar affair, with Jankovic struggling to keep the ball in play at times. Simple errors were the order of the day as the Serbian gifted several break point chances to her opponent with relatively easy misses.

Bondarenko was quick to swoop on Jankovic’s offerings and broke her in the third, fifth and ninth games to take the second set 6-3 and power into the fourth round.

Forty unforced errors for Jankovic was just too many, something the Serbian agreed with in her post-match interview.

“I made a lot of errors, especially in the beginning. I thought especially in the beginning of the first I thought I had some opportunities, and she came up with some good shots from the defence.

“But overall I struggled. I didn't serve well, and my opponent played really well. But I didn't raise my level of play and couldn't really find my rhythm in my game today.”

Despite her early exit from the first Grand Slam tournament of the year, Jankovic was surprisingly calm about not making it to the second week here after her semi-final effort of 2008 and fourth-round appearances in 2007 and 2009.

“It's just [the] beginning of the year. It's no big deal. It's, you know, only my second tournament of the year,” she said.

Jankovic will rely on her positive outlook to get back to the top spot, which she briefly occupied in 2008.

“I just have to stay positive, keep my head up high. Just, you know, I know what I have to work on. I feel like my game is improving, and I feel like I really can raise my level and be up there. And my goal is to come back to the top again.”

Current Match on Hisense Arena Hisense Arena - Women's Singles - 3rd Round Jelena Jankovic SRB (8) 2 3 Alona Bondarenko UKR (31) 6 6 Match Statistics Serve Statistics

Jankovic slow to start, fast to finish

Former world No. 1 and eighth seed Jelena Jankovic has advanced to the second round of Australian Open 2010 with a 6-4 6-0 victory over Romanian Monica Niculescu at Hisense Arena on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old Serbian struggled to find form early in the match as she was broken by Niculescu in her opening game, and tallied seven unforced errors before she got on the scoreboard at 2-1.

The 2008 US Open finalist was able to break back immediately, but from there neither player could hold their serve in the opening set, which featured seven breaks.

The world No. 101 Niculescu took it right up to Jankovic, challenging the Serb with her powerful groundstokes.

Jankovic, seeking to improve on her Australian Open 2008 semi-final appearance, looked out of sorts, hitting 20 unforced errors in the first set. She was able to convert all four break point opportunities to finally claim the set in 47 minutes.

Jankovic stepped it up in the second set, with the Romanian initially offering some resistance by punching a forehand volley winner in the eighth seed’s opening service game to grab a break-point opportunity.

Jankovic saw off the challenge with a well-timed ace, but Niculescu managed a further break-point opportunity. The two were locked in an intense battle in the opening game, but it was Jankovic who prevailed, winning an entertaining net exchange to take the early advantage.

After escaping the service break, Niculescu lost her way as Jankovic quickly ran away with the match, advancing to the second round without losing a game the rest of the way.

Jankovic will now meet 87th-ranked Brit Katie O’Brien in the second round after O’Brien beat Austrian Patricia Mayr 6-3 6-3 earlier on Tuesday.

Current Match on Hisense Arena Hisense Arena - Women's Singles - 1st Round Jelena Jankovic SRB (8) 6 6 Monica Niculescu ROU 4 0 Match Statistics Serve Statistics

Pictures: 2009 Miami Players Party [Updated]

Here are some pics from the players party to kick off the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. For the hot and/or skankily dressed WTA ladies at the party, click here ;)

I'm loving Maria Sharapova's "plastic doll" look, though her dress is kindof a hot mess.

Heaps of high quality pictures from the Miami players party below! Updated photos include: Rafael Nadal, James Blake, Novak Djokovic, Jelena Jankovic, Maria Sharapova, Serena and Venus Williams.

Photos: Jankovic frustrated at Indian Wells

lost to Anastasia Pavluchenkova 6-4, 6-4 in the second round of the 2009 BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells. Read her moody interview excerpts here!

It's frustrating watching her play this bad, so I can't even begin to imagine how she's feeling. Get it together Jelena :grrrrr: At least she's figured out what's wrong - Jelena admitted that she's lost her reaction and speed and is working on getting it back.

More photos below.





Other notable losses so far include: Dementieva, Cibulkova, Cornet, Kuznetsova and Bartoli.

Jelena Jankovic partying and kissing boyfriend

Jankovic new year celebrations makes Serbian headlines

We had pictures of Jelena Jankovic spending time with Mladjan for New Years a few days ago, but now the Serbian press have printed some more photos of Jelena from that night - and this time she's seen making out with her hot boyfriend and dancing like only Jelena can :P We love you Jelena!

Continue on to see the full sized pics...

Mladjan Janovic photos

Jelena Jankovic and Mladjan Janovic spend 2009 New Years eve together

As you may be aware, Jelena Jankovic scored herself a new man at the 2008 Olympic Games in China. His name is Mladjan Janovic (note: there's no "k" in his surname!) and he's a water polo player on Serbia's national team. After a training stint in Florida at Bollettieri's Academy, Jelena managed to fly home to Belgrade to spend New Years with Mladjan.

Below is a collection of photos of Mladjan with and without Jankovic...

Night out: Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic at Fed Cup party

"Serbian sisters" Jelena Jankovic and Ana Ivanovic attended a Fed Cup party last night before their tie against Japan.

Ana and Jelena seem to be getting along just fine AND they both dressed sensibly for once lol! Both girls are looking amazing :P Also in attendance was Japan's #1 player Ai Sugiyama.

Continue reading for more photos!

Jelena Jankovic Top Wallpapers

Jelena Jankovic Best Picture

Jelena Jankovic Top Picture

Jelena Jankovic Best Wallpaper

Jelena Jankovic Top Model

Jelena Jankovic Best Player Tennis

Safina and Jelena to get it right?

Dinara Safina and Jelena Jankovic are united by a common burden as they prepare for Wimbledon.

The Russian and the Serbian are the only women players in history to have been ranked number one in the world but never to have won a Grand Slam singles title.

And, although neither can be blamed as such for that anomaly, until they make that breakthrough and hold their nerve when it matters, they cannot be seriously bracketed with the sport's greatest names.

Kim Clijsters and Amelie Mauresmo would understand the pressure on both players, having themselves previously been in the same position before triumphing at the US Open and Australian Open, respectively.

Safina and Jankovic have not been strangers to Grand Slam finals. Both have won doubles titles, while Safina has been a singles runner-up on three occasions, including earlier this month at the French Open, and Jankovic lost to Serena Williams in last year's US Open final.

But neither has matched expectations on the biggest stage, and that is a problem for the women's game, already in the shadow of the men, where Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have developed a rivalry to match any in the history of the sport.

Any sporting division would struggle for attention and an audience if its number one player is not a household name.

Neither Safina or Jankovic could claim to have a public profile remotely comparable to that of either Williams sister, nor the retired Justine Henin or Martina Hingis, or even Clijsters, who will be eager to improve on her present status as a one-slam wonder when she launches a comeback in August after two years out of the game.

Lindsay Davenport and Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo too, are several rungs up from Safina and Jankovic in terms of their reputation and appeal.

Safina, the current number one, powered through the early rounds in the French Open but fell apart against her fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.

Her response to defeat revealed where she believes her shortcomings lie.

"I started the tournament really strongly, and then in the quarters, against (Victoria) Azarenka, I started to slow down a little bit," Safina said. "I was not playing as aggressively as when I started.

"Slowly I became a little bit passive. Of course, against Sveta (Kuznetsova) you have to be very aggressive. But it's not easy to go from becoming passive to turning and being suddenly hugely aggressive."

Serena Williams also recently discussed Safina, arguing the 23-year-old was "definitely authenticated" as the world's top player - an opinion seemingly at odds to her previous statements on the matter.

The American, with 10 Grand Slam singles titles to her name, knows how to handle the big occasions better, though.

Despite being ranked world number two, Serena is pretty much second to no-one, never mind Safina, when it comes to landing the game's top prizes.

Which is one reason why many believe the Wimbledon title is again destined for the Williams family collection - although it is sister Venus who is the two-time defending champion.

Jankovic has been struggling desperately with a lack of confidence since beginning the year as number one.

Fourth-round losses in the Australian Open and French Open have told the story of her campaign.

"Obviously I'm not playing the same game and not the same style as I used to play last year," said Jankovic after her Roland Garros exit.

"I have to learn and I have to change. I need my confidence back. I need to go for my shots. I need to have that belief that they're going to go in."

Henin, a class act and a winner of seven grand slam singles titles, retired last year at the age of 25 and is sorely missed.

She still follows the game and recently suggested it was "quite sad" that it no longer followed that the world number one would automatically have a Grand Slam beside their name.

Kuznetsova, who secured her second major by adding the French Open to her 2004 US Open title, believes the many top Russian players on tour feed off the war-time experiences of their grandparents, giving them the steel required to cope at the highest level.

"They had to go with nothing, without maybe bullets, only with a knife, and still go to war," Kuznetsova said.

"They teach their kids to be always strong."

In that case, Safina's slams could be just around the corner, and she might achieve multiple champion status and relieve herself of the perception she is a 'false' number one.

But, just as Kuznetsova has been taught, and the greats of the game would testify, such success cannot be achieved on ability alone.