
Jelena Jankovic is a pro tennis player from Serbia. She was born in Belgrade Serbia on 28th February, 1985 as a third child of Veselin and Snezana Jankovic, both economists. Her father is from Montenegro, and her mother is Serbian. She first learned tennis at tennis club ‘Red Star’. She was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko and later she was trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri at Florida. She won junior Australian Open in 2001, also she started to play in WTA tours, and she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters. She won her first ITF title in Dubai in 2003, and she also entered top 100, at number 90 for the first time. She also made her debut at Grand Slam in Australia, but lost in 2nd round. In May, Jankovic won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Sucha in the final 7-6, 6-3. In 2004, she played many matches and defeated many top ranked players and her ranking improved to number 28 by the end of season of 2004. Latter in the year 2005, she played in all the Grand Slams and reached in many of WTA and ITF finals and her ranking at the end of the season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22. The initial half of 2006, was not so impressive for Jankovic as she lost many matches, in Wimbledon she defeated Venus Williams in the 3rd round but lost in the fourth round to Anastasia Myskina, and latter in some other tournament she defeated Serena Williams, thus becoming only player in 2006 to defeat both the Williams sisters. She played very impressive tennis in latter half of 2006, and finished the season ranked just outside the Top 10, at No. 12, as she reached semifinals of US Open. To kick off her 2007 season, Jankovic won her second title at the Tier IV ASB Classic tournament in Auckland, New Zealand. She made it to the fourth round of the Australian Open, when she got eliminated to the eventual champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Though she lost in the fourth round, she has entered the top 10 at number 10 for the first time in her career, also at French Open she made it to semifinals, where she lost to Justine Henin in semifinals. Due to her strong performance in the 2007 French Open. It brought her ranking up to number 3 on 11th June (her highest career rank ever). At Wimbledon in singles she could only reach up to only 4th round, but she won her first Grand Slam title in mixed doubles category with Jamie Murray of United Kingdom. In US open, in quarter finals she was defeated by Venus Williams in a toughly contested match of 4-6, 6-1,7-6(4). She is often regarded as one of the fittest and toughest players in recent years for her great defensive abilities and footwork. In 2007 she played more matches than any other player did and maintained her third rank as well, which is the proof of her incredible stamina and well-balanced performance. She speaks English, as well French language since she went to French diplomatic school in Belgrade. Presently she is a student of a private “Megatrend” college in Belgrade. Her favorite book is “The Bridge on the Drina”, by famous Serbian Nobel prize winner Ivo Andric her favorite film is “Titanic”.