Jelena Janković (, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the 2008 US Open. Janković won 15 WTA Tour singles titles and two doubles titles, with career highlights that include winning the 2007 Wimbledon mixed-doubles title partnering Jamie Murray.
Family and early life
Janković was born in Belgrade, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, as the third child of Veselin and Snežana, both economists. She has two brothers, Marko and Stefan. She is a student at the Megatrend University in Belgrade, studying economics. However, she has put her course of study on indefinite hold as she continues to pursue her tennis career. Janković learned her first tennis skills at the Tennis Club 'Red Star'.
As a -year-old she was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko. She later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior, she won the 2001 Australian Open and reached junior no. 1 in the world. In 2001, she started to play on the WTA Tour; she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Open.
Tennis career
She was ranked world No. 1 for 17 consecutive weeks until she was overtaken by Serena Williams on 2 February 2009. She was the year-end world No. 1 in 2008, the first player in the history of the WTA Tour to do this without winning a Grand Slam title.
Janković has reached the singles final of the US Open and the singles semifinals of the Australian Open and the French Open. In 2007, she became the first female Serbian player to win a Grand Slam title when she won the Wimbledon mixed doubles title with British partner Jamie Murray.
2004–2006: Rising success
In October 2003, Janković entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time, after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three months later, Janković garnered her first top-10 win against Elena Dementieva in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. In May, Janković won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Suchá in the final. Following her win in Budapest, she reached No. 51 in the world. Elsewhere in her 2004 season, she defeated top-20 players Nadia Petrova (twice), Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder, Elena Dementieva and Paola Suárez. Janković finished 2004 ranked no. 28 in the world.
In March, at Dubai, she advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Janković then lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport in three sets. She made her first Tier I semifinal in Berlin, losing to Nadia Petrova. In June, she reached her first grass-court final at Birmingham, but lost to Maria Sharapova. In October, Janković reached her third final of the year in Seoul, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at that time, losing to 16-year-old Nicole Vaidišová in straight sets. Her ranking at the end of the season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22.
Janković lost in the second round of the Australian Open to world No. 188 Olga Savchuk. That was the first of ten straight losses, not winning a match from late January into early May. She later said this run caused her to consider quitting tennis. Janković ended her losing streak by beating world No. 17, Elena Likhovtseva in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome, before eventually losing to Venus Williams in three sets in the quarterfinals. At the French Open, Janković reached the third round for the first time, where she lost to world No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo.
At Wimbledon, Janković defeated sixth-seeded and defending champion Venus Williams in the third round in three sets. Competing in the fourth round of a Grand Slam event for the first time, she lost to ninth-seeded Anastasia Myskina. In August, Janković reached her fifth career final and first of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, defeating Serena Williams (ranked world no. 108 at the time after a lengthy injury lay-off) in the semifinals, before losing to third-seeded Elena Dementieva in the final. The US Open saw Janković defeat world No. 10, Vaidišová in the third round, world No. 7 and former champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round, and world No. 5, Dementieva in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal. In the semifinals, Janković lost to world No. 2, Justine Henin in three sets, after Janković had led 6–4, 4–2. Janković argued with the chair umpire, when the umpire refused to offer an opinion as to whether a service call had been correct, suggesting that Janković use one of her electronic challenges. Janković then lost ten consecutive games.