I Stop Here, Ana & Jelena Continue To WTA World #1

I'll take some time off from the blog. Before I do, these are Ana's (Australian Open 2008 Final) and Jelena's (Charleston Open title) biggest successes before they are to win their first Grand Slam.

Ana Ivanovic Still WTA #2, Jelena Jankovic Now #5

In this morning's, Monday April 14th, WTA list, Ana Ivanovic remained on #2 position with 4157 WTA points, Jelena Jankovic dropped from #3 down to #5 position with 3770. Justine Henan kept #1 position with 6105 points, Svetlana Kuznetsova improved to #3 from previous #4, while Maria Sharapova (the winner of last week's Tier II Amelia Island arose from #5 to #4 position with 3876 points. Anna Chakvetadze is at #6 with 2665 points.

Both Ana and Jelena did not participate in any tournament last week (the biggest one happening Tier II Amelia Island). Ana will not play in the next two weeks until Fed Cup, while Jelena will be defending title (and 430 won points) at Charlston this week.

Jelena is #1 seed in Charleston, her possible opponents could be Cibulkova and Zvonareva, then Schnyder, Dementieva and Radwanska. With such draws, it appeared Jelena had some luck s in other half of the draw are Sharapova, Chakvetadze, Serena Williams and Safina. Jelena will play first match on Wednesday, April 16th.

Jelena said: 'After a few days of rest and shopping in Los Angeles, I went back to Florida and started training again. I'm defending title at Charleston and I spent a lot of time with my condition coach on the beach to be best prepared. It's not easy running sprints and doing all sorts of excercises on sand, but it's a great training for muscles. I wanted to prepare myself the best for long points on clay'.

Jelena passed week visited her main sponsor 'Reebok' in Boston and used the opportunity to visit the Boston Red Sox baseball game and said: 'I didn't know much about this sport but I enjoyed, eating hot dog, as you can see on the picture. Stadium is called Fenway Park and has a very long and reach tradition. It was cool to visit such a special place'.

Aside Charleston tournament, before return to Europe, Jelena will have several promoting activities to do, including 'Trademark' show for Sports TV station ESPN and said: 'I decided it to be my backhand parallel. I hope everyone who will be watching ESPN during summer will be able to see and hear my advices on how to hit backhand in 'JJ style'.

Ana Ivanovic Inbetween The Tournaments

With clay season started this week in Amelia Island, Eurosport (TV channel) made an analysis who is the best WTA player on clay surface (criteria based upon results in the last several clay seasons including the last 7 Roland Garosses, taking in consideration the stregth of the tournaments), Ana is placed #3 player on clay, Justine Henan is at #1 and Jelena Jankovic at #2.

Eurosport valued a good result at Grand Slam giving 2 time more points than Tier I events, and a little less than 3 time more than results achieved at category II, III and IV tournaments. As the title winner at the last 3 Roland Garosses, Justine is by far the most successful player on clay while Jelena played brilliantly on clay last season winning Charleston and Rome and reaching Roland Gaross Semifinal.

Ana has been listed in the 300 most influential people (at #92), 100 most influential women and 50 most influential sportmen in Serbia by the Serbian daily newspapers 'Blic'.

Ana appeared on the Calcutta Times (Indian newspapers) front page in the first week of April and commentated on the upcoming clay season: 'I really enjoy playing on clay and Berlin last year was a turning point in my career, not just because I won the tournament but because I reached the top 10 during this event'.

Ana: 'It’s been a very good start to the year. I feel like I continued on the same path that I was on last year. Obviously reaching the final of the Australian Open was a big highlight for me. The tournaments in Doha and Dubai were very frustrating. Getting injured is the most difficult thing about being a professional tennis player and I had a bad experience in Doha'.

Ana: 'It’s the next Grand Slam (Roland Gaross) and my goal is to win it. I have already reached two finals so I know what it takes to get there, and now I need to go one step further and win a Grand Slam. Paris is a special place for me, not just because of last year but I had a great time there three years ago when I reached the quarter-finals'.

Ana also talked about grass season that follow clay season: 'It’s definitely one of the most difficult parts of the season. It would be good if there was more time to adjust, and to recover from the French Open. But I see it as a big challenge, and one that I’ll enjoy'.

Ana: I have a good chance (at Wimbledon). I feel like my game is well suited to grass, because I have a good serve and I can play at the net and be aggressive. But there are many great players and it’s going to be extremely tough.

Ana's thoughts on Roger Federer: 'I have met him a few times. Actually I interviewed him last year, at a party just before the U.S. Open for The Tennis Channel. He’s a very nice guy. We talked tennis a little bit and it was very interesting for me to hear what he said, because I can definitely learn from him. I enjoy watching him play a lot'.

Ana will rest two weeks more, until April 26th, and the Fed Cup match, Ana's thoughts on her WTA schedule: 'It's very importanat to pay attention on choosing the tournaments because it's impossible to play good at several tournaments one after another. My first next tournament will be Berlin when I'm defending title, afterwards follow Rome and Roland Gaross'. Amelia Island is ongoing this week and Charleston starts next week.

In offcourt news, Wentworth Miller commanted on Ana's comment about him (in answer to fan questions who is one person Ana would choose to spend a day with, Ana said it's Wentworth). Wentworth said it would be a great honor to meet Ana and one does not need to follow tennis to know who Ana Ivanovic is and that aside being one of the best tennis players she is also one of the pretties tennis players.

Jelena Jankovic Offcourt Likes/Dislikes

In this week's WTA rankings, Ana Ivanovic stayed at #2 and Jelena Jankovic at #3 position. Both Ana and Jelena will not be on court this week, Ana will rest until April 26 and Fed Cup match while Jelena will participate next week at Charlston.

Here are some details about Jelena's likes/dislikes offcourt: Jelena's favorite animals is dog and she has a Maltese named Napoleon who lives at her home in Miami. Jelena wears and rotates pink and white tennis dresses by Rebook and for the time of being those two are to stay as Rebook is not sending new ones, Jelena prefers the pink color model as she prefers brigher colors and wears it more.

Jelena's priority this year are the Singles matches and she may play Doubles only at Grand Slams. Jelena has expressed her wish to play in Doubles with Ana at the Beijing Olympics this summer.

Jelena's favorite dessert is chocolate and she can be a fanatical about it (luckily she trains and stays in shape:). Jelena looks forward towards the upcoming clay season as she had a great clay court season last year winning two Tier Is and playing in the Semifinals of Roland Gaross.

Jelena lives on two sides of the world, when tournaments are in North America she spends time in her house in Miami USA, when the tournaments are in Europe, she spends time in her home town Belgrade in Serbia.

In the offseason Jelena prefers more spending time at warmer places, with cold winters in Belgrade, she usually spends more time in Miami. Even though Jelena prefers warmer weather, heat (especially over 100 degress) is the hardest thing about playing a match.

Video: Jelena Jankovic practicing at Miami Open 2008

Miami Open Final: Post Match Interviews

Jelena's and Serena's thought on the Miami Open Final 2008:

Jelena: 'The first couple games in the third set were the crucial games, which I let them go, and I had game points in the first game, third set and the second. You know, I had easy balls, you know, to go up 15‑40, and I missed that shot. There was a lady who was little bit screaming during the point, and I lost, somehow, my focus on that shot'.

Jelena: 'Because, you know, when you're playing you're so focused. All of a sudden somebody screams from the crowd, and you ‑‑ in that split second you kind of ‑‑ I don't know what happens. I just made that mistake and I lost those games, and then I tried to come back. I tried to fight. I thought that Serena really had trouble closing out the match'.

Jelena: 'She looked so nervous out there. I could never believe that a girl who has won so many Grand Slams, so many tournaments, could be that nervous, you know, closing out the match. It felt like it was her first time, you know, to win that tournament. She has won it so many times'.

Jelena: 'But she was very strong, especially in the first set, you know. When she's playing her best tennis, when she's serving well, it's just tough to match up against her. Even though I work hard physically, I can never in my life be as strong as her. So it's just a big difference. But I was trying my best out there. It was windy. It was hard for me to, you know, play the balls where I wanted them. She was the better one today, and she's the winner of this tournament'.

Jelena: 'I was sick. You know, it was so really annoying for me to be sick, you know, and playing a final. I felt little bit weak today. I felt ‑‑ I couldn't breathe. But I didn't, I tried not to think about this. I tried just to play the game and just enjoy it and have fun'.

Jelena: 'Finally I finished the tournament so I can rest, because I've been on antibiotics. I think with the playing and a lot of action, being sick, you cannot recover. I think I need some rest in order to get better, and I finally can do that after today'.

Jelena: 'I started to feel a little bit dizzy in the court, light headed like when I blow my nose my ears were popping like when you're on the airplane. That's how it feels. It's uncomfortable, but what can I do? I kept coughing and coughing, and I coughed my way through the tournament. It was really weird. (laughter.) I had to do ‑‑ I had to do my best in order to be here'.

Jelena: 'Even though I don't feel, you know, 100%, there's not ‑‑ nothing in my mind that will make me default so I cannot go. I can be weak and I don't care. I will not play, I cannot compete at my best, and then just default in the final. That would be really bad for the fans. I could never do that'.

Jelena: 'So I'm sick, but I tried my best out there to play my game and to match up against, you know, very strong opponent. But obviously I didn't ‑‑ I couldn't do it. It was a three‑set match, and it was a tough one'.

Jelena: 'I thought I could come back at the end. You know, if I had won that game at 5‑4, I didn't think that could have happened. It was unlucky for me, but next time. I had a pretty good score against her ‑‑ I beat her in Australia and I played so much better. Here with the wind on one side it's so much tougher. I hit so hard and my balls went past service line. It's difficult, but that's just the way it has to go'.

Jelena: 'I had all these actors when I was returning. It was just funny. I was thinking that one of the actors was in that movie, if you know, White Men Can't Jump. I was feeling when I was playing that match, I thought, White Girls Can't Play, you know'.

Jelena: 'I felt like that at a certain point when I was playing against Serena. I was just like there's no way I can play with this girl. She's just too strong for me. But, you know, I could have done it, but she was just, you know, too good at the end'.

Jelena talked about being love-3 down in the second set and love-5 down in the third set: 'That is one quality that I have, and there's going to be days when I'm not going to play well, like maybe today, and there are going to days when I'm going to play well. But something that is always there is my fighting spirit, no matter what the score is'.

Jelena: 'If it's 5‑Love, 3‑Love, whatever the score is, I'm not giving up. I'm still out there and I'm still fighting for every point, and I still believe that I can come back and win the match. I was on my way, but unfortunately it didn't happen'.

Jelena: 'The crowd enjoyed, you know, the match. I think it was for both, but obviously she's American, and for sure she's going to have many more fans here. But I also had many, many fans, and especially Serbian fans. You could always hear them. They're always loud, and you always know where they are'.

Jelena: 'It's just a fun atmosphere to play in front of the crowd. It's amazing. It was a full stadium. It was a nice final overall. I thought that I'm going to come back at 5‑3. I was ‑‑ you know, I just said to myself, If only I can make one more game, 5‑4, and go out on the other side and play with the wind and she's against the wind. It's so much tougher. She hits so hard.

Jelena: 'But then I can still manage to play aggressive and dictate those points from that side, but I didn't do it. So it was unfortunate, but I believe that I could have, I could come back'.

Jelena: 'I feel like I'm making improvement on the physical part, because I've been working with a fitness trainer in Indian Wells and here throughout these two tournaments. I already feel that I'm making some progress, but it takes time, of course'.

Jelena: 'But I already feel a lot better than I felt in Dubai where I played a third‑setter and I couldn't even move. I was too tired, too exhausted. I was completely out of shape. And now I'm coming back, I'm getting better and better, but it will take, you know, more time, of course'.

Jelena: 'But as for the coach, hopefully, you know, I was getting some help here in beginning of the tournament and as well in Indian Wells. Makes a huge difference, because I'm No. 3 player in the world without a coach, and I can just imagine what will happen to me if I have a full‑time coach that will be there for me all the time and share his knowledge and experience with me'.

Serena: 'I thought I had like 15 matches points. I'm glad to know it wasn't. I really thought I had 15. I don't know. I just ‑‑ a couple of shots she hit really well, and then a couple of times I made some mistakes, and I was just like, it was just weird'.

Serena: 'I was definitely up and on my way to glory, and out of there, you know, within an hour. But, you know, I made a lot, I started making a lot of mistakes. Then I think I wasn't doing, Jelena obviously started playing when you have nothing to lose it's like you play like you have nothing to lose, and those are the most dangerous people in life, you know, on the court'.

Serena: 'So I think she just started making some great shots and, you know, putting a few more balls in play, and I started missing some important shots. You know, she got lucky a few times. I got lucky, you know, then she just closed it out'.

Serena: 'Jelena is a great fighter. She seems to always be down match point and sometimes is coming back and winning. Not only that, the fact that she's a great player and fighter, also the fact I made mistakes I shouldn't have made and I missed shots I shouldn't have missed'.

Serena: 'I didn't do the right, the same thing that got me to be up a set 3‑Love. It's more a factor of me allowing myself to be dominated, so I think if you factor in all those factors, then that's kind of what happened'.

Serena: 'I think she's definitely unpredictable. She's hitting shots down the line and she'll mix it up and go crosscourt, she'll hit a lob. She's not someone you can say, I know she's going to do this at this point. You have to always be on your toes'.

Video: Miami Open Final, Best Point Of The Match