Jankovic sees Dubai as first step to reclaim World no.1 Ranking.
Jelena Jankovic is ready to continue her quest to recapture the number one ranking she held in 2008 and 2009 as she competes next week in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
Universally acknowledged as one of the WTA Tour's most charismatic players, the Serb recovered from a difficult start to the 2009 season to win titles in Marbella and Cincinnati and qualify for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships. She finished in the top 10 for the third straight year and earned her first victory over a reigning world number one when she defeated Dinara Safina in the Cincinnati final.
She also finished as runner-up in Tokyo where she was forced to retire against Maria Sharapova with a wrist injury, she reached the semi-finals of the Paris Indoor event, and she was a quarter-finalist no less than six times, in Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid, Stanford, Toronto and Moscow.
Jankovic is one of only a handful of players who knows what it is like to be ranked as the very best player in the world, and it is something she wants to experience again.
"You go on the court and want to play as the number one player in the world and you don't feel any pressure, because once you become the number one player, you get that monkey off your back," she said.
"If you are number two or three in the world you think, ‘Maybe I will finish my career there and never get to the top position', or that I've been working so hard and got to this position and later I'm defending so many points and maybe I'll never get so close again.
"You put so much pressure on yourself, but once you get there and touch that spot you don't have anything further to lose. It is a dream come true, and then you can go out there and enjoy your tennis. Still, you know that many other players are coming up and want to beat you with nothing to lose when they are playing against you, so you have to work much, much harder on the court, off the court."
With so much success in regular Tour events, the only thing that prevented Jankovic challenging strongly to regain the number one ranking was her failure to advance to the later stages of the four Grand Slams. However, despite that disappointment she played a pivotal role in Serbia qualifying for the first time to the Fed Cup elite World Group, winning matches against Japan and Spain.
Now, after a respectable start to the season that has seen her continue her Fed Cup success with victories over Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova, she is thrilled to return to one of her favourite venues.
Jankovic reached the final on her Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships debut in 2005 and the semi-finals in 2007 and 2008. Her loss in 2007, after she had beaten Martina Hingis, was especially disappointing because she had to retire against Amelie Mauresmo after injuring her ankle and collapsing on the court. Now, she is looking forward to making up for one of her more disappointing visits here as she fell in the third round last year to Kaia Kanepi.
"Jelena Jankovic is one of the greatest entertainers in the game, and her ability to always wear a smile while at the same time putting so much effort into her game has made her one of the most popular players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour," said Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free.
"She made her debut here in Dubai as long ago as 2003 when she won an event run by the International Tennis Federation, and many feel a similar success is overdue at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships."
Play at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships begins on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 with the WTA Tour event and continues with the ATP tournament from Monday, February 22nd - 27th.
Jelena Jankovic is ready to continue her quest to recapture the number one ranking she held in 2008 and 2009 as she competes next week in the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships.
Universally acknowledged as one of the WTA Tour's most charismatic players, the Serb recovered from a difficult start to the 2009 season to win titles in Marbella and Cincinnati and qualify for the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships. She finished in the top 10 for the third straight year and earned her first victory over a reigning world number one when she defeated Dinara Safina in the Cincinnati final.
She also finished as runner-up in Tokyo where she was forced to retire against Maria Sharapova with a wrist injury, she reached the semi-finals of the Paris Indoor event, and she was a quarter-finalist no less than six times, in Stuttgart, Rome, Madrid, Stanford, Toronto and Moscow.
Jankovic is one of only a handful of players who knows what it is like to be ranked as the very best player in the world, and it is something she wants to experience again.
"You go on the court and want to play as the number one player in the world and you don't feel any pressure, because once you become the number one player, you get that monkey off your back," she said.
"If you are number two or three in the world you think, ‘Maybe I will finish my career there and never get to the top position', or that I've been working so hard and got to this position and later I'm defending so many points and maybe I'll never get so close again.
"You put so much pressure on yourself, but once you get there and touch that spot you don't have anything further to lose. It is a dream come true, and then you can go out there and enjoy your tennis. Still, you know that many other players are coming up and want to beat you with nothing to lose when they are playing against you, so you have to work much, much harder on the court, off the court."
With so much success in regular Tour events, the only thing that prevented Jankovic challenging strongly to regain the number one ranking was her failure to advance to the later stages of the four Grand Slams. However, despite that disappointment she played a pivotal role in Serbia qualifying for the first time to the Fed Cup elite World Group, winning matches against Japan and Spain.
Now, after a respectable start to the season that has seen her continue her Fed Cup success with victories over Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova, she is thrilled to return to one of her favourite venues.
Jankovic reached the final on her Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships debut in 2005 and the semi-finals in 2007 and 2008. Her loss in 2007, after she had beaten Martina Hingis, was especially disappointing because she had to retire against Amelie Mauresmo after injuring her ankle and collapsing on the court. Now, she is looking forward to making up for one of her more disappointing visits here as she fell in the third round last year to Kaia Kanepi.
"Jelena Jankovic is one of the greatest entertainers in the game, and her ability to always wear a smile while at the same time putting so much effort into her game has made her one of the most popular players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour," said Colm McLoughlin, Managing Director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty Free.
"She made her debut here in Dubai as long ago as 2003 when she won an event run by the International Tennis Federation, and many feel a similar success is overdue at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships."
Play at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships begins on Sunday, February 14th, 2010 with the WTA Tour event and continues with the ATP tournament from Monday, February 22nd - 27th.
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