The year hadn't been so great for her coming into Indian Wells and the woes almost continued as she was two points away from another early exit; but she made it through that one, and now Jelena Jankovic owns a clean dozen Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles titles.Jankovic, seeded No.6 at the $4.5-million tournament, was two points away from losing to Sara Errani in the third round but she rallied her way past the Italian and never looked back, winning the rest of her matches in straight sets - 62 62 over Shahar Peer, 64 64 over Alisa Kleybanova, 62 64 over Samantha Stosur and - in Sunday's final - 62 64 over Caroline Wozniacki.
Playing the No.2-seeded Wozniacki, and for that matter all of those straight set wins, Jankovic was back at her aggressive best, the same aggression that once saw her rise to No.1 in the world. She came out strong in the first set, losing just seven points en route to a 4-0 lead, then came out quickly again in the second set, breaking in the first game and holding onto that break until the end.
Check out photos from Indian Wells finals weekend right now!
"I was ready from the start. I had a game plan," Jankovic said. "I wanted to be really aggressive but at the same time patient, and choose the right times."
"Jelena played a good match today. I made a few too many errors on the important points," Wozniacki said. "I had a good 10 days here. Now I'm ready and confident going into Miami. I just need to hit the practice courts now."
The BNP Paribas Open is Jankovic's 12th career singles title on the Tour and her eighth at the Premier tournament level. She is now 12-11 in finals.
"I had a wake-up call against Errani. I had to fight hard," Jankovic said. "I learned my lessons, what I should and shouldn't do, and I kept going on and on. I cut down on those errors, cleaning up some of the things in my game. I got more and more confident with each match, and, you know, took the title."
Wozniacki also had an escape early on, rallying from 4-1 down in the third set to beat Vania King in her opener; she went on a five game streak to get out of that one and never really came close to losing again, until the final of course.
By virtue of reaching the final, Wozniacki rises to No.2 in the world on the rankings, a new career-high for the Dane; also making a big move based on her results in the Californian desert is Sam Stosur, who cracks the Top 10 after reaching the semis (where she lost to eventual champion Jankovic).
"I'm always hungry to get that first spot. That's what everyone is dreaming about," said Wozniacki when asked if she had No.1 aspirations. "Hopefully it will happen one day. Serena is a great player. I'm just taking it one match at a time and doing my best, and we'll see what the future brings."
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Singles - Final
(6) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) d. (2) Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 62 64
1 comment:
When will there be a great number one again in women's tennis?!?
Where are champions like Graf, Navratilova, Evert and henin?
We don't need a player like Caroline Wozniaki to be the number 1 in the world. Her game is as boring as and one dimensional as a marathon competition. She has only 3 shot, forehand and backhand topspin, plus a slice serve. That is not enough to be ranked number one in the world, I think. The number one should be a true champion, with a complete game.
I can only hope that Justine Henin will be the top Player on the WTA-Tour again, soon.
She is dedicated, has a complete game and does not focus on a career after the tennis career already, like many other players on the womans tour. Who all dream more about acting or modelling, than making history in tennis...
Hartmut Hesse
Professional Tennis Coach
Post a Comment