October 31, 2006 Jankovic Comes Full Circle, Eyes Top 10 LINZ, Austria - At the end of last season she was hovering just outside the Top 20 and now she ranks just outside the Top 10. But what has been unusual about her rise is that it hasn't been steady at all; she suffered through a disastrous first half of the season, which nearly put her outside the Top 40, before having a stellar second half that has taken her to where she is now, nearly the first player from newly-split Serbia to crack the game's 10 best. Jelena Jankovic came into 2006 with loads of promise. She had made three finals in 2005, notched a slew of Top 20 wins, and even pushed the Top 10 to three sets on several occasions. But what transpired in the first couple of months was nothing of a continuation of this; after winning her first round at the Australian Open, she went on to lose 10 consecutive matches. "I got a virus. It was a tough time for me. It took a few months to recover and I couldn't play. I was tired all day. I'd come on court and wouldn't know what was wrong with me. I didn't have the will to practice or to play. I d idn't even want to win matches. It was something I'd never felt before, and I almost quit tennis." Having begun the season ranked No.22, the streak would drop her down to No.38 by mid-May, her lowest rank since first cracking the Top 40 the summer before. //十连败时 "I was the No.1 junior. I was always climbing the rankings. When this happened, it was a tough time. I don't think anybody likes to lose, but I'm kind of a bad loser. When I started losing so much, I didn't want to play. That's how I was." What has become arguably the most spectacular turnaround of the 2006 season began taking shape at that low; Jankovic won a trio of tight rounds in Rome, then pushed Venus Williams to three tough sets in her first quarterfinal of the year. Since hitting that Roman red clay, she has won an unbelievable 42 matches, including revenge over Williams at Wimbledon, a win over her sister Serena en route to the final at Los Angeles, and four Top 10 wins, three of which carried her into her first Grand Slam semifinal, at the US Open. During that run to the US Open semis she expressed how one of her immediate goals was joining those players in the world's Top 10. "It's always been my goal to be Top 10," Jankovic said. "Things happen; you get injured, you get sick and sometimes it's difficult, but you have to work hard and keep improving. Now, the goal is quite realistic. I didn't believe I could do it at the beginning of the year; it all started in May, and it's been good for me. Next year I can start with the motivation to get into the Top 10." The upcoming off-season is something the 21-year-old Belgrade native looks forward to, not just as an opportunity to recharge the batteries, but also for time to prepare for her imminent assault on the upper ranking classes. "I'm happy that it has gone this well, but it really has been a long second half of the year. I'll probably rest in the first two weeks, go on vacation and recharge. I'm so tired now, I've played so much in the last five months and I deserve a good rest. But then I'll start training for next year." On the verge of Serbian history... Jankovic also has a chance of becoming the first player from the nation of Serbia to reach the Top 10; although two other Serbia natives, Monica Seles and Jelena Dokic, also reached that lofty height, they both competed under different flags, Seles for Yugoslavia and Dokic for Serbia and Montenegro. "Yugoslavia was bigger, as was Serbia and Montenegro; it was a bigger chance to have a Top 10 player. Now it's quite difficult, because it's such a small country. It would be great to be the first Serbian in the Top 10 - it would motivate the young generation, too." Hot on her heels is fellow Serbian (and fellow Belgrade native) Ana Ivanovic, who is at No.14. They hail from the same locale, but were raised in different worlds. "I didn't really know Ana until she came on the Tour. I was training in Florida, while she was in Switzerland. We were never in the same place. Both of us have been doing different things. We see each other at tournaments and of course we are friendly but I don't know her too well. But obviously, it's so great to have two players from such a small country in the Top 15." And her Top 10 dreams could be realized fairly quickly in 2007; with only a single match win's ranking points to defend until that fateful mid-May turning point, and with only two rungs in between her and those dreams on the rankings, one would think she could realistically set her targets even higher. "In five months I have nothing - it's good, no?" she laughed. "I feel no pressure. I'll just try to go out there and play my best tennis." Jankovic is the top seed this week at the Bell Challenge in Québec City. It will be her last tournament of the year, having missed out on qualification for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships by just a few spots. --

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