Dubai Duty Free 2011: Jelena Jankovic battles into semi-final
Jelena Jankovic survived another three set thriller at the ongoing Dubai Duty Free Women Tennis Championships 2011 to reach the semi-final of the tournament.
The Serbian earned a hard fought victory against the Australian world number five Samantha Stosur in a three set quarterfinal which she won 6-3, 5-7, 7-6.
The former world number one Jankovic started the match in an emphatic fashion and broke Stosur’s serve early to take the first set 6-3. But the Australian came back strongly and took the second set 7-5 despite a break deficit to level the set score at 1-1.
The Australian was on top in the decider as well and was leading it by 3-0.
However, Jankovic regrouped herself and showed great determination and fighting spirit to take the final set into a tiebreaker. She eventually emerged victorious winning the final set 7-6 to book a place in the semi-finals.
“I think I was looking for this kind of beginning. I needed to start somewhere,” Jankovic said. “I needed to get myself going and get myself on track again and show that I'm here and that I can perform and how well I can play and how well I can handle the
situations and be mentally tough and really hang in with the top players.”
The Serbian is looking in great shape ahead of her semi-final match against the new world number one Caroline Wozniacki who has been in supreme form in the tournament.
Jankovic has shown great desperation and hunger for a win in this tournament, not giving up until the last point which will certainly prove to be fruitful in her clash against Wozniacki.
“One thing is I really have that drive, that hunger again, that, you know, kind of fire in me again,” she said. “I was a little bit flat in the past and didn't have the energy and kind of got down on myself. And now I'm kind of still there and still enjoying,
even the challenges when the times are tough. I'm still enjoying the battle and really grinding through.”
The 25-year-old Serbian had experienced health and fitness issues throughout 2010. Her absence from the premier Women Tennis Association tournaments had resulted in her ranking drop to eighth from a high of second. She retired from Wimbledon 2010 due to
a back injury and then her progress at other tournaments was hampered by various problems and she ended up losing most of her matches.
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