Jelena Jankovic pulls out of the Open GDF Suez due to injury – Tennis News
Serbian tennis ace, Jelena Jankovic, has announced that she will not be a part of the players’ filed at the Open GDF Suez, in Paris, France. The world number 13 has still not recovered from a thigh injury, which has forced her
to pull out of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier-level tournament at the last moments.
Jankovic was to play the Open GDF Suez as the fourth seed but her Fed Cup campaign took a huge toll out of her physical fitness last week. The 13th ranked veteran led Team Serbia to an emphatic victory over the bleak
Belgian squad in the opening round of the Fed Cup World Group tie but was found having trouble with her left thigh in the singles encounter against Kirsten Flipkens. She won the singles rubber to assist her side to victory but made severe damage to her left
thigh in the process. The Serb was extremely disappointed to withdraw from the star-studded event Paris but hopes for a quick recovery.
"I had hoped that after treatment I could still play here but unfortunately it's impossible," said Jankovic. "Australia (Open) and the Fed Cup and then here, that's a lot. But it's important for me to play for my country."
The former world number one has not been in her finest form this season and had already suffered three defeats the events she competed. Jankovic took off her 2012 WTA season from the Brisbane International and was defeated in the
quarter-final round, at the hands of the Italian veteran, Francesca Schiavone. She lost in the second round of the tournament in Sydney to the then world number three, Victoria Azarenka, before she began her voyage at the season-opening Grand Slam event, the
Australian Open. Jankovic displayed a courageous run in the mega event but fell to the top seed Dane, Caroline Wozniacki, in the fourth round.
Jankovic was found struggling with her itching thigh in the Fed Cup tie against Belgium on last Saturday but managed to craft a straight sets victory, 7-5, 7-5, against Flipkens. She committed to play at the Open GDF Suez tournament
in Paris this week but had no option left to take a rest from the professional circuit to heal her injured leg.
Chances for claiming the championship title by the top seed Russian, Maria Sharapova, have increased immensely with Jankovic pulling out, along the third seed Li Na, who’s back injury forced her to withdraw from the event in her
opening round match.
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