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Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; 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 Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...
performance, a runner-up finish at the 2008 US Open. Janković won 15
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...
singles titles and two doubles titles, with career highlights that include winning the 2007 Wimbledon mixed-doubles title partnering
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
.


Family and early life

Janković was born in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
,
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yug ...
, 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 Megatrend University ( sr, Универзитет Мегатренд, Univerzitet Megatrend) is a private university located in New Belgrade, the city of Belgrade, Serbia. It was founded in 1989 as the Megatrend Business School, which later became ...
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 Nicholas James Bollettieri (July 31, 1931 – December 4, 2022) was an American tennis coach. He pioneered the concept of a tennis boarding school, and helped develop many leading tennis players during the past decades, including Andre Agassi, ...
. 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 Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
on 2 February 2009. She was the year-end world No. 1 in 2008, the first player in the history of the
WTA Tour The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour. WTA Tour tourna ...
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 Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
mixed doubles title with British partner
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
.


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 Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. In May, Janković won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in
Budapest Budapest (, ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Hungary. It is the ninth-largest city in the European Union by population within city limits and the second-largest city on the Danube river; the city has an estimated population ...
, defeating
Martina Suchá Martina Suchá (; born 20 November 1980) is a former professional tennis player from Slovakia. On 22 April 2002, Suchá reached her career-high WTA singles ranking of No. 37. She helped the Slovak team to win the 2002 Fed Cup, beating Nathal ...
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 Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...
(twice),
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
,
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
, Elena Dementieva and
Paola Suárez Paola Suárez (; born 23 June 1976) is a retired tennis player from Argentina. She was one of the most prominent women's doubles players throughout the early and mid-2000s, winning eight Grand Slam titles, all of them with Virginia Ruano Pascua ...
. Janković finished 2004 ranked no. 28 in the world. In March, at
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, she advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Janković then lost in the final to
Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...
in three sets. She made her first Tier I semifinal in
Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
, losing to
Nadia Petrova Nadezhda Viktorovna "Nadia" Petrova (russian: Надежда Викторовна Петрова ; born 8 June 1982) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A former top-five player in both singles and doubles, she reached a career-high ...
. In June, she reached her first grass-court final at
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...
, but lost to
Maria Sharapova Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
. In October, Janković reached her third final of the year in
Seoul Seoul (; ; ), officially known as the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea.Before 1972, Seoul was the ''de jure'' capital of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) as stated iArticle 103 ...
, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at that time, losing to 16-year-old
Nicole Vaidišová Nicole Vaidišová Štěpánková (; born 23 April 1989) is a Czech former professional tennis player. Vaidišová is an Australian Open and French Open semifinalist as well as a two-time quarterfinalist at Wimbledon. She started playing tenn ...
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 The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
to world No. 188
Olga Savchuk Olga Mykolayivna Savchuk ( uk, Ольга Миколаївна Савчук; born 20 September 1987) is a retired tennis player from Ukraine. Savchuk grew up in the city of Makiyivka in Donetsk province. She resides in Nassau, Bahamas. Her best ...
. 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 Elena Alexandrovna Likhovtseva (russian: Елена Александровна Лиховцева ; born 8 September 1975) is a Kazakhstani-born Russian former tennis player. She turned professional in January 1992, at the age of 16. Together ...
in the first round of the Italian Open in Rome, before eventually losing to
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
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 Amélie Simone Mauresmo (; born 5 July 1979) is a French former world No. 1 tennis player and tournament director. Mauresmo won two major singles titles at the 2006 Australian Open and Wimbledon Championships, and also won the silver medal in s ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, 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 Anastasia Andreyevna Myskina ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Мыскина ; born 8 July 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. Myskina won the 2004 French Open singles title, becoming the first Russian woman to wi ...
. In August, Janković reached her fifth career final and first of the year at the JPMorgan Chase Open in Los Angeles, defeating
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
(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 Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
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 Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
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. Janković continued her strong form in the aftermath of the US Open. Of the six tournaments she played during the remainder of the year, she reached the quarterfinals at five. This included a run to the semifinals at the China Open in Beijing, defeating world No. 7, Nadia Petrova in the quarterfinals, before losing to world No. 1, Mauresmo, in a third set tiebreak. Janković finished the year at a career-high ranking of world No. 12.


2007: World No. 3

To begin the year, Janković won the second title of her career at the ASB Classic in
Auckland, New Zealand Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...
, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final. The following week, at the
Medibank International The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, is a professional tennis tournament i ...
in Sydney, Janković defeated world No. 7 and former No. 1,
Martina Hingis Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks a ...
and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo on the way to the final, where she lost to
Kim Clijsters Kim Antonie Lode Clijsters (; born 8 June 1983) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. Clijsters reached the world No. 1 ranking in both singles and doubles, having held both rankings simultaneously in 2003. She won six major titles, ...
after serving for the match. Janković's strong start to the year meant that some considered her a title threat at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
; however, she was eliminated in the fourth round by the eventual champion Serena Williams, who was ranked 81st in the world at the time. Because of her results at these tournaments, her ranking rose to world No. 10, the first time she had been included in the top 10. Janković reached two semifinals in the Middle East in the spring, retiring against Mauresmo due to an ankle injury at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
, and losing in three sets to
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
at the
Qatar Total Open The Qatar Ladies Open, currently sponsored by TotalEnergies and called the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, is a women's tennis tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoo ...
in Doha. Janković rebounded in the clay-court season, defeating Venus Williams on a third set tiebreak in the semifinals of the
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
in Charleston, South Carolina. She went on to defeat
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...
in the final to win the first Tier I title of her career. On European red clay, after losing to world No. 1 Henin in three sets both in the semifinals of the J&S Cup in Warsaw and the quarterfinals of the German Open (failing to hold a 4–0 lead in the third set in the latter), Janković won her second career Tier I title at the Italian Open, defeating second-seeded
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
in the final. This results meant she entered the top 5 in the world rankings for the first time. Janković was the fourth seed at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
and one of the favorites for the title. After registering her third consecutive victory over Venus Williams in the third round, she went on to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career, but lost there to eventual champion Henin. This improved her ranking to a new career-high of world No. 3. On grass, Janković captured the
DFS Classic The Birmingham Classic (currently sponsored by Rothesay Pensions) is a 250-level women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tournam ...
title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova led 3–0 in the third set, before Janković rallied to win the match. The next week, Janković reached the final of the
Ordina Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
in the Netherlands and became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in the first half of a year. Janković, suffering from a hamstring injury, lost the final to
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles, the biggest being the 2006 Kremlin Cup. She booked her highest singles ranking o ...
. At
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
, Janković was the third seed, but lost in the fourth round to the surprise eventual finalist
Marion Bartoli Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She als ...
. In the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon, Janković teamed with doubles specialist
Jamie Murray Jamie Robert Murray, (born 13 February 1986) is a Scottish professional tennis player from Scotland who specialises in doubles. He is a seven-time Grand Slam doubles champion (five in mixed doubles and two in men's doubles), a Davis Cup win ...
to win the title in three sets by beating the fifth-seeded team,
Jonas Björkman Jonas Lars Björkman (; born 23 March 1972) is a Swedish former professional tennis player. He is a former world No. 1 in doubles, and also a former world No. 4 in singles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 T ...
and Alicia Molik. During the North American summer hard-court season, Janković reached the semifinals of the
East West Bank Classic The LA Women's Tennis Championships was a WTA Premier tournaments, Premier-level tennis tournament on the Women's Tennis Association, WTA Tour held in Carson, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. The tournament was playe ...
in Carson, California, but lost there to fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, having held two match points in the final set. The following week, Janković reached the final of the Tier I Canadian Open in Toronto, where she lost to Henin on Henin's sixth match point. Janković had leads in the first and second sets, but was unable to maintain her lead. At the US Open, Janković lost to
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
in the quarterfinals. Janković's form tailed off following the US Open. At the
Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic The Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic was a tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Bali, Indonesia in 2007 and 2008. During the period 1994–2006 it was known as Wismilak International, organized successively in Surabaya (1994–1997), Kuala ...
in
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
, Janković was upset in the quarterfinals by former world No. 1,
Lindsay Davenport Lindsay Ann Davenport Leach (born June 8, 1976) is an American former professional tennis player. Davenport was ranked singles world No. 1 for a total of 98 weeks, and was the year-end singles world No. 1 four times (1998, 2001, 2004, and 2005) ...
, in Davenport's first singles tournament since giving birth. The following week at the China Open in Beijing, Janković defeated Davenport, but lost in the final to Hungarian teenager
Ágnes Szávay Ágnes Szávay ( hu, Szávay Ágnes, ; born 29 December 1988) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. The 2007 WTA Newcomer of the Year achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 13 in April 2008. Personal life Szávay was bor ...
, after Janković had a match point in the second set. Janković finished the year on a six-match losing streak, losing all three of her round-robin matches on her debut at the year-end
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations *Washington Trails Association *Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Water ...
in Madrid. She finished the year ranked world No. 3. At the end of the year she had won 72 matches in a solar year, a true record of the WTA. Janković had successful nose surgery immediately after Madrid to correct a breathing problem. The surgery prevented her from practicing for three weeks.
Olympic Committee of Serbia The Olympic Committee of Serbia ( sr, / ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Serbia. It organizes the country's representatives at the Olympic Games and other multisport events. Members of the committee are 47 sports federations, wh ...
declared her the sportswoman of the year.


2008: World No. 1 and first Grand Slam final

Janković lost in the semifinals of the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
to eventual champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets, having defeated defending champion Serena Williams en route. In March at the Tier I
Pacific Life Open The Indian Wells Masters, also known as the Indian Wells Open and BNP Paribas Open is an annual tennis tournament usually held in early- and mid-March at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden in Indian Wells, California, United States. The owner is La ...
in Indian Wells, Janković lost in the semifinals to Ana Ivanovic. The following fortnight, Janković reached her first final of the year at the Miami Open, losing to Serena Williams in three sets. Janković started the clay-court season by losing in the quarterfinals of both the Family Circle Cup in Charleston and the German Ope] in Berlin. Janković then successfully defended her Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia title in Rome, after defeating Venus Williams in three sets in the quarterfinals, receiving a walkover from the injured Sharapova in the semifinals, and defeating French teenager
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...
in the final. This was Janković's first singles title of the year. She went into the French Open among the favorites, following the sudden retirement of four-time champion
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
. However, she lost to compatriot and eventual champion Ivanovic after leading by a break in the third set. Janković was the only player to win a set against Ivanovic during the entire tournament. This marked Janković's fourth defeat in four career Grand Slam semifinals. She would have become the world No. 1 had she reached the final. However, she did reach a new career-high of world No. 2 in the week following the tournament. At Wimbledon, Janković injured her knee during her third-round match against Caroline Wozniacki. Although she won that match, it visibly hindered her during her fourth-round loss to
Tamarine Tanasugarn Tamarine Tanasugarn ( th, แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubl ...
. Janković would have become the world no. 1 had she reached the semifinals of the tournament. However, she lost to Tamarine Tanasugarn in the fourth round. Janković squandered two further opportunities to immediately take the world no. 1 position with losses in the semifinals of the
East West Bank Classic The LA Women's Tennis Championships was a WTA Premier tournaments, Premier-level tennis tournament on the Women's Tennis Association, WTA Tour held in Carson, California, a suburb of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. The tournament was playe ...
in Los Angeles to
Dinara Safina Dinara Mubinovna Safina (; ; tt-Cyrl, Динара Мөбин кызы Сафина; born April 27, 1986) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. Safina was runner-up in singles at the 2008 French Open, 2009 Australian Open, and the ...
and the quarterfinals of the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
in Montreal, to
Dominika Cibulková Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001 WTA Tour Championships, 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 WTA Tour ...
. Janković did eventually replace Ivanovic as the world No. 1 on 11 August 2008. She was the 18th woman to have been ranked world No. 1 by the
Women's Tennis Association The Women's Tennis Association (WTA) is the principal organizing body of women's professional tennis. It governs the WTA Tour which is the worldwide professional tennis tour for women and was founded to create a better future for women's tenni ...
, but the first woman to have done so without ever having reached a Grand Slam final and only the third woman (the others being Amélie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters) to have become world No. 1 without first winning a Grand Slam title. Janković's reign as the world No. 1 lasted only one week, after she lost in the quarterfinals of the Beijing Olympics to eventual silver-medalist Safina. This meant Ivanovic reclaimed the world No. 1 position. Janković was the second seed at the US Open, where she defeated Olympic gold-medalist Elena Dementieva in the semifinals to reach her first Grand Slam final. There, she lost to fourth-seeded Serena Williams. Janković would have reclaimed the world No. 1 position if she had won the event. Janković became the world no. 1 again during the fall in the midst of winning three consecutive tournaments. At the China Open, Janković defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in two sets to win the title. The following week, Janković played in the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
in Stuttgart, where she defeated Venus Williams in the semifinals and Nadia Petrova in the final. In the
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...
in Moscow, Janković defeated defending champion Dementieva in the semifinals before triumphing against Vera Zvonareva in the final for her third title in three weeks, the first time for a player on the WTA Tour to do so since 2005. As the top seed at the year-end 2008 WTA Tour Championships held in Doha, Janković won two of her three round-robin matches, including only the second win of her career over Ivanovic. However, she lost in the semifinals, to eventual champion Venus Williams and ended the year as world No. 1. In all, Janković lost to eventual champions at six tournaments (including three Grand Slam tournaments) during the season. Janković was later named the ITF World Champion for her performance in 2008. She won four titles during the season, the most of anyone on the tour along with Serena Williams and Safina. The Olympic Committee of Serbia declared her the best sportswoman for the second year in a row.


2009–2010: Continued success as top-ten player

Janković was seeded first at the Australian Open in Melbourne. She lost to 16th-seeded Marion Bartoli in the fourth round. Bartoli hit 34 winners, compared to Janković's 17 and won 81 percent of her first serve points, compared to Janković's 56 percent. Janković lost her world No. 1 ranking to Serena Williams as a result. Her next WTA event was the Open GDF Suez tournament in Paris. Janković beat
Francesca Schiavone Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She wa ...
,
Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. She achieved a career-high WTA ranking of world No. 2 on 17 February 2014. Over the course of her career, Li won nine WTA Tour singles titles including two Grand ...
and fifth-seeded
Alizé Cornet Alizé Cornet (; born 22 January 1990) is a French professional tennis player. Cornet has won six singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as three singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Circu ...
but then lost to Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals. Janković was upset by
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset spec ...
in the third round of Doha in straight sets, in what she called "the worst match of my career." She was the second-seeded player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, losing in the second round to
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova Anastasia Sergeyevna "Nastia" Pavlyuchenkova (russian: Анастаси́я "Настя" Серге́евна Павлюче́нкова; born 3 July 1991) is an inactive Russian professional tennis player. A junior prodigy, Pavlyuchenkova won ...
. After the match she conceded that she has been struggling with her confidence, saying "I need a lot of work." Janković then lost in the second round of the
Sony Ericsson Open The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
in Key Biscayne to
Gisela Dulko Gisela Dulko (; born 30 January 1985) is a retired Argentine tennis player. Although she enjoyed modest success in singles, reaching a career-high ranking of world No. 26 and winning four WTA titles, her speciality was doubles, where she achiev ...
after Janković failed to hold leads of 5–2 in the second set and 5–2 in the tiebreaker. Beginning her spring clay-court season at the
Andalucia Tennis Experience The Andalucia Tennis Experience was a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. The inaugural edition was in 2009. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) and is an International tournament o ...
in Marbella, Janković defeated fifth-seeded Spaniard
Carla Suárez Navarro Carla Suárez Navarro (; born 3 September 1988, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) is a Spanish former professional tennis player. A former top 10 singles player, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 6 on 29 February 2016, and a b ...
in three sets for her first title of 2009. Janković beat
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
in the Fed Cup play-offs against Spain to bring the Serbian team into the World Group for the first time. The previous day, Janković and Ana Ivanovic had won their single matches. Janković was the defending champion at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
in Stuttgart and
Internazionali BNL d'Italia The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
in Rome, but lost in the quarterfinals. Seeded fourth at the inaugural
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
, she advanced to the quarterfinals once again, but was defeated by
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
. Seeded fifth at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, she lost to
Sorana Cîrstea Sorana Mihaela Cîrstea (; born 7 April 1990) is a Romanian professional tennis player. In singles, she achieved a career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 12 August 2013. In doubles, her career-high ranking is No. 35, which she reached on 9 March ...
of Romania in the fourth round despite serving for the match in the third set at 5–4. Janković was seeded sixth at
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
. She lost to qualifier
Melanie Oudin Melanie Jennings Oudin (born September 23, 1991) is an American former professional tennis player. The former world junior No. 2 was a member of the American Fed Cup team from 2009 to 2011 and the winner of the 2011 US Open mixed-doubles title ...
in the third round. At the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Janković defeated
Victoria Azarenka Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former w ...
and Elena Dementieva (saving four match points). In the final, Janković won her second title of the year, defeating world No. 1, Dinara Safina. With the win, her ranking also went back to world No. 4. Despite her good form leading up to the US Open, Janković's inconsistency continued, as she suffered a shock second-round defeat by
Yaroslava Shvedova Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia. She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
despite having match points in the third-set tie-break. Her ranking went down to world No. 8. At the
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open ( ja, 東レ パン・パシフィック・オープン・テニストーナメント), currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-le ...
seeded seventh, Janković defeated Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals and Li Na in the semifinals. She faced Maria Sharapova in the final and retired while behind 5–2 because of an arm injury. Janković received a first-round bye in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
. She lost her opening match to home favorite
Peng Shuai Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...
. At the
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations *Washington Trails Association *Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Water ...
Janković lost her first match to Azarenka but bounced back defeating Safina and Wozniacki to clinch the first berth in her group. In her second year-end championship semifinal she lost to Venus Williams in three sets. She ended the year ranked No. 8 and with a 46–19 record. At the Australian Open, Janković, seeded eighth, lost to 31st seed
Alona Bondarenko Alona Volodymyrivna Bondarenko Dyachok ( uk, Альона Володимирівна Бондаренко; born 13 August 1984) is a Ukrainian former tennis player. Her younger sister Kateryna Bondarenko plays on the WTA Tour. Her career-high s ...
in the third round. Next, Janković represented Serbia in the 2010 Fed Cup. In her first match, she rallied from 4–6, 1–4 down to defeat
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...
, then defeated reigning French Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. In the deciding doubles match, she partnered with Ana Ivanovic but fell to Kuznetsova and Kleybanova. Her next scheduled tournament was the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
where she lost to Vera Zvonareva in the third round. She traveled to Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open. At the tournament, she was seeded sixth and defeated Caroline Wozniacki to take her 12th title. Janković's next tournament was the
Sony Ericsson Open The Miami Open (also known as the Miami Masters, and currently branded as the Miami Open presented by Itaú for sponsorship reasons) is a tennis tournament held at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Florida. It is part of the men's ATP Tour Mas ...
, where she was seeded seventh. In the fourth round, she lost to Samantha Stosur, ending her eight-match winning streak. At the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
qualifying, Janković defeated Slovakia's
Magdaléna Rybáriková Magdaléna Rybáriková (; born 4 October 1988) is a retired Slovak tennis player. In her career, she won four singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour. Rybáriková reached the semifinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships and bro ...
in her first singles match, but fell to Hantuchová in her second. Janković and
Bojana Jovanovski Bojana may refer to Places * Bojana (river), a river in Albania and Montenegro * Ada Bojana / Bojana Island Name * Bojana (given name), a Slavic given name * People ** Bojana Atanasovska ** Bojana Bobusic ** Bojana Jovanovski ** Bojana Novakovic * ...
then fell to Rybáriková and Hantuchová in the deciding doubles match. Janković was the fourth seed at the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
. She lost against Justine Henin in the quarterfinals for the tenth time in a row. Janković was the seventh seed at the Italian Open. In the quarterfinals she handed Venus Williams the heaviest loss in her career, surrendering only one game. She then beat reigning world No. 1, Serena Williams in the semifinals, after saving a match point. She became one of the few women to defeat both Williams sisters in the same tournament and the first player who beat both sisters in less than 24 hours in one tournament. However, she lost to unseeded
María José Martínez Sánchez María José Martínez Sánchez (; born 12 August 1982) is a Spanish retired professional tennis player. In singles, she has won five WTA singles titles, her biggest being a Premier 5 title at the 2010 Italian Open where she defeated two form ...
in the final. Nevertheless, her ranking increased to world No. 4. Janković lost in the quarterfinals of the
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
to eventual champion
Aravane Rezaï Aravane Rezaï (; fa, ارغوان رضایی ''Arghavān-e Rezāyi'' , born 14 March 1987) is an Iranian–French tennis player. She has defeated many top players on the WTA Tour, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenk ...
. Janković's next tournament was
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, where she was seeded fourth. She lost in the semifinals to Samantha Stosur. Two weeks later, her ranking increased to world No. 3. Janković, struggling with injuries, played in the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
and eventually retired against eventual finalist Vera Zvonareva in the fourth round. Regardless, her ranking increased to world No. 2. Janković lost in the early rounds at both the Western & Southern Open and
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
, despite being the top seed in each (and defending champion in Cincinnati). Janković then traveled to New York to play in the US Open, where she was seeded fourth. She was defeated by
Kaia Kanepi Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour. Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset spec ...
in the third round. In the China Open she fell in the third round against fellow Serbian player Bojana Jovanovski. Janković's final event of the year was the Tour Championships, where she qualified for the fourth consecutive year, as the sixth seed. After losing her opening match to Zvonareva, Janković reportedly collapsed in the locker room, yet still came out to play Clijsters the next day and lost. She lost her third and final group match to Azerenka, bringing an end to her 2010 season. On 30 November Janković played a humanitarian match in Pionir Hall. Revenue from tickets was intended to help elementary school in
Kraljevo Kraljevo ( sr-cyr, Краљево, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative center of the Raška District in central Serbia. It is situated on the confluence of West Morava and Ibar River, Ibar, in the geographical region of ...
damaged by an
earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...
.


2011–2012: Struggles with form

At the start of the year, Janković announced her decision to work with
Andrei Pavel Andrei Pavel (born 27 January 1974) is a Romanian tennis coach and former professional tennis player. Career Andrei began playing tennis at age eight, and moved to Germany at age sixteen. Turned professional in 1995. He won three singles tit ...
on a trial basis. She began 2011 by falling in the first round to France's
Aravane Rezaï Aravane Rezaï (; fa, ارغوان رضایی ''Arghavān-e Rezāyi'' , born 14 March 1987) is an Iranian–French tennis player. She has defeated many top players on the WTA Tour, such as Justine Henin, Venus Williams, Victoria Azarenk ...
in three sets at the
Medibank International Sydney The Sydney International (formerly known as the Championship of New South Wales and New South Wales Open, with various title sponsors), formerly sponsored as the Apia International Sydney from 2012 to 2017, is a professional tennis tournament i ...
. Her poor form continued at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, losing in the second round against Peng Shuai. Janković reached the semifinals of the Dubai Tennis Championships, beating fourth seed Samantha Stosur but losing to Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinal, Wozniacki's first win in five attempts against Janković. Up next for Janković was the Qatar Ladies Open. She reached the semifinals again, losing to Vera Zvonareva in three sets. The Russian had then beaten the Serb in their last five meetings. She then reached the final of the
Monterrey Open The Monterrey Open is a professional women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. The event is affiliated with the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and is part of the 250 series on the WTA Tour. From 2009 to 2013, the tournament wa ...
, where she was defeated by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova despite being up a set. Indian Wells Open was next for Janković, where she was the defending champion. She was defeated by Ana Ivanovic in the fourth round. Janković's next tournament was the Sony Ericsson Open where she lost to
Andrea Petkovic Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 a ...
in the quarterfinals. Janković's next tournament was
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
in Charleston where she lost in the semifinals to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki. She then played in the Fed Cup against Slovakia, beating
Daniela Hantuchová Daniela Hantuchová (; born 23 April 1983) is a Slovak tennis commentator and retired player. She turned professional in 1999 and had her breakthrough year in 2002, when she won her first WTA Tour title at the Indian Wells Masters, defeating Mar ...
and winning an epic doubles match with
Aleksandra Krunić Aleksandra Krunić ( sr-Cyrl, Александра Крунић; born 15 March 1993) is a Serbian professional tennis player. She has won one singles title and six doubles titles on the WTA Tour along with one singles title on WTA 125 tournament ...
against Hantuchová and Magdaléna Rybáriková, saving three match points. With this, Serbia was placed in World Group I again. At Italian Open, Janković lost to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki in the quarterfinals for the third time in a row. Her ranking dropped to No. 10, the lowest it had been since the beginning of 2007. Janković was the tenth seed at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. In the fourth round, Janković fell to fifth seed and defending champion Francesca Schiavone. As a result, she dropped out of top 10 for the first time since early 2007. Janković was the 15th seed at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, but lost to María José Martínez Sánchez in the first round, her first opening-round exit in a Grand Slam since the
2005 French Open The 2005 French Open was the 109th edition of the tournament. On the men's side, Rafael Nadal, seeded fourth at his first French Open, was a strong favorite to win the singles title after winning the Monte Carlo and Rome Masters. Guillermo Coria ...
. Janković was seeded 13th at the Western & Southern Open, where she lost in the final to Maria Sharapova in three sets. She reached the third round at the US Open, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She reached the semifinals of the
Generali Ladies Linz The Linz Open, currently sponsored by Generali Gruppe, is a women's tennis tournament held in Linz, Austria. It is played on indoor hardcourts. The inaugural event took place in 1987 in Wels, Austria and was organized by the ITF as a $10,000 tou ...
tournament, falling to
Petra Kvitová Petra Kvitová, OLY ( , ; born 8 March 1990) is a Czech professional tennis player. Known for her powerful left-handed groundstrokes and variety, Kvitová has won 29 career singles titles, including two major titles at Wimbledon in 2011 and ...
. Janković began 2012 at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
, losing to Francesca Schiavone in the quarterfinals. She then lost in the second round of the Apia International to third seed Victoria Azarenka. At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Janković was defeated by Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth round. She played the Dubai Duty Free Open and advanced to the semifinals without dropping a set, where she was beaten by the in form
Agnieszka Radwańska Agnieszka Roma Radwańska (; born 6 March 1989) is a Polish former professional tennis player. She won 20 career singles WTA Tour titles, two doubles titles, and achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 2 on 9 July 2012. Her achiev ...
. She reached the semis in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, before losing to fifth seed
Petra Martić Petra Martić (; born 19 January 1991) is a Croatian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 14, achieved in January 2020. Martić has won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, one singles and one doubles tou ...
in three sets. Janković lost her next three matches in Indian Wells, Miami, and in Charleston to Venus Williams. Janković reached the E-boks Sony Ericsson Open in Copenhagen semifinals before losing to second seed Angelique Kerber. In the Fed Cup semifinals against Russia in Moscow, Janković defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Svetlana Kuznetsova. She then lost four of her next five matches, being defeated in the opening rounds of the Mutua Madrid Open, the Italian Open and in Brussels before a second-round loss at the French Open to young American
Varvara Lepchenko Varvara (Cyrillic: Варвара; el, Βαρβάρα, ''Varvára''), a variant of " Barbara", may refer to: Places *Varvara, Azerbaijan * Varvara, Prozor, on the Rama river, Bosnia and Herzegovina * Varvara, Burgas Province, Bulgaria * Varvara ...
. Janković turned her fortunes around by reaching the finals of Aegon Classic 2012, losing to Melanie Oudin. However, she lost in the opening round of
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
to unseeded former world No. 1, Kim Clijsters. It was the second year in a row that Janković lost in the opening round of Wimbledon. Janković lost in the opening round of the Olympic tennis tournament to eventual gold medallist Serena Williams. Janković reached the final of Dallas and the third round of the US Open, but was defeated by second seed Agnieszka Radwańska.


2013: First title in three years, back into the top 10

At the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Janković lost in the third round to compatriot and former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic. In February, Janković won her first title in three years at Bogotá, defeating
Paula Ormaechea Paula Ormaechea (; born 28 September 1992) is an Argentine tennis player based in Italy. She has won 16 singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 21 October 2013, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 59.World Grou ...
in straight sets. Janković made an early exit from Indian Wells the following week, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the second round. However, she managed to reach the semifinals at
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, losing to Maria Sharapova in straight sets. The run in Miami returned Janković to the world's top 20 for the first time in almost one year. Janković then reached the final of the
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
, losing there to defending champion and world No. 1 Serena Williams. At
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, Janković upset Samantha Stosur in the first round, before losing to Sabine Lisicki in the second. Janković lost in the first round of
Madrid Open There are three sporting events known as the Madrid Open: * Madrid Open (golf) The Madrid Open was an annual men's golf tournament which was held in and around the Spanish capital Madrid from 1968 to 2007, apart from a seven-year gap from 1994 to ...
to
Chanelle Scheepers Chanelle Scheepers ( ; born 13 March 1984) is a retired South African tennis player. She won one singles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 12 singles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit in her career. On 10 Octobe ...
. She made it to the quarterfinal at
Internazionali BNL d'Italia The Italian Open ( it, Internazionali d'Italia; literally: ''Italy's Internationals''), originally called the Italian International Championships, is a tennis tournament held in Rome, Italy. It is one of the most important clay tennis tournament ...
where she was defeated by
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
after she missed two matchpoints. At the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
Janković made it to the quarterfinals but lost to Sharapova in three sets. She also played at
Nürnberger Versicherungscup The Nuremberg Cup was a women's professional tennis tournament held in Nuremberg, Germany. Held from 2013 until 2019, this 250-level tournament was played on outdoor clay courts. Tournament history The Nuremberg Open was a defunct men's tenni ...
where she was defeated by Andrea Petkovic in the semifinals. At
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, she lost in the second round of singles to
Vesna Dolonc Vesna Ratkovna Dolonc (Serbian Cyrillic and russian: link=yes, Весна Ратковна Долонц; née Manasieva, Манасиева; born 21 July 1989) is a retired Serbian tennis player. She earned career-highs of 84 in singles and 93 ...
but made it to the quarterfinal of doubles (in pair with
Mirjana Lučić-Baroni Mirjana Lučić-Baroni (; ; born 9 March 1982) is a Croatian former professional tennis player. She enjoyed a meteoric rise on the WTA Tour in the late 1990s, during which she set several "youngest-ever" records. She captured the women's doubles ...
) where they lost to eventual champions
Hsieh Su-wei Hsieh Su-wei ( ;''Xiè 謝淑薇Shūwēi'' in Chinese mainland. Taiwanese Mandarin: ; in Standard Mandarin of Chinese mainland. born 4 January 1986) is an inactive Taiwanese professional tennis player. She has won three singles titles and 30 ...
and Peng Shuai. Janković kicked off her US hard-court season in Carlsbad, where she was upset in the second round by
Urszula Radwańska Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player. Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reached ...
in three sets. She also competed in the doubles tournament with
Katarina Srebotnik Katarina Srebotnik (born 12 March 1981) is a Slovenian retired professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 20 on 7 August 2006. On 4 July 2011, she reached No. 1 of the WTA doubles rankings, holding this ...
and lost in the semifinals. This propelled her to a career high in doubles, No. 38, seven years after her last career high. She then competed at Toronto, and lost to eventual finalist Sorana Cîrstea in the third round. Janković again partnered Srebotnik in the doubles. The unseeded pair won the tournament. This marks Janković's second career doubles title, her 1st title in Birmingham in 2006. This result will further increase her doubles ranking to a career high, No. 25. At the Western & Southern Open, Janković defeated four top-25 players en route to the semifinals: Sabine Lisicki,
Ekaterina Makarova Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles. She ...
,
Sloane Stephens Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in to ...
, and
Roberta Vinci Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 in ...
. She then lost to world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka in three tough sets. This result means that Janković clinches the 9th seed at the US Open, after the retirement of Marion Bartoli and withdrawal of Maria Sharapova. And as a top 10 seed at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2011 French Open, Janković made it to the round of 16 for the first time at the US Open since her run to the final in 2008 after beating
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...
,
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...
, and
Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
, all in straight sets. She was defeated in the fourth round by a peak form Li Na. As a result, Janković was back into the top 10 singles rankings for the first time since June 2011. During the Asian hard court season Janković performed well. She reached the 1/16 round at the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, where she was defeated by later declared Newcomer of the year
Eugenie Bouchard Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam t ...
. At the China Open in Beijing, she reached the final for the first time since 2008, defeating Tokyo champion Petra Kvitová en route. Furthermore, for the first time since 2009, Janković won more than 40 matches in a year. After this result she will be world No. 8. This strong Asian run also meant that Janković is the seventh qualifier for the year-end championships at Istanbul. She made the semifinals at the WTA Championships, defeating world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in straight sets along the way, finishing 2013 with a three-set loss to eventual champion and year-end number one, Serena Williams. Janković finished the season in the top 10 for the first time since 2010 at No. 8.


2014: Good results and final back injury

Janković kicked off 2014 at the premier-level event
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
as the number four seed. She beat former Roland Garros champion Francesca Schiavone,
Elina Svitolina Elina Mykhailivna Svitolina ( uk, Еліна Михайлівна Світоліна, ; born 12 September 1994) is a Ukrainian professional tennis player. She reached career-high rankings of world No. 3 in singles and 108 in doubles. Svitolina ...
, and world No. 9,
Angelique Kerber Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
, to reach the semifinals where she lost to world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in three sets. This was the first time she made it to the semifinals of an Australian Open warm up tournament since 2007. Seeded fourth at the Sydney International, Janković was upset in the first round by Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets. Her next stop was the Australian Open. She defeated three Japanese players consecutively,
Misaki Doi is a Japanese professional tennis player. Her highest WTA rankings are No. 30 in singles and No. 77 in doubles. Doi reached two junior Grand Slam doubles finals – at Wimbledon in 2007 with Kurumi Nara, and at the Australian Open in 2008 ...
,
Ayumi Morita is a Japanese tennis player. She reached her career-high ranking of number 40 in the world in October 2011. At junior level, she reached a combined career-high ranking of world No. 3. Morita is known for strong and consistent two-handed grounds ...
, and
Kurumi Nara is a Japanese former professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 18 August 2014, she reached a career-high singles ranking of worl ...
, to reach the fourth round that set up a rematch against up and Simona Halep, where Janković lost in three sets. Her next set of tournaments were during the Middle-Eastern hard court swing at Doha and Dubai. She made it to the semifinals in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, beating
Karin Knapp Karin Knapp (born 28 June 1987) is a retired Italian tennis player. In her career, Knapp won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles titles and six doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit, ITF Circuit. On 24 August 2015, sh ...
,
Alisa Kleybanova Alisa Mikhailovna Kleybanova (russian: Алиса Михайловна Клейбанова, born 15 July 1989) is a Russian former tennis player. Her career-high singles ranking is world No. 20, achieved in February 2011. In her career. she wo ...
, and Petra Kvitová, dropping less than four games in each match. She lost to Angelique Kerber in a second set tiebreak. In
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, Janković defeated
Maryna Zanevska Maryna Volodymyrivna Zanevska ( uk, Марина Володимирівна Заневська; born 24 August 1993) is a Ukrainian-born Belgian tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62, achieved on 23 May 2022, and ...
and
Lucie Šafářová Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles. She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 2015 ...
, both in straight sets, before falling to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Janković played the two Premier Mandatory events during the North American hard-court swing at Indian Wells and
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
. At Indian Wells, she defeated
Yvonne Meusburger Yvonne Meusburger Garamszegi (née Meusburger, born 3 October 1983) is an Austrian retired tennis player. Meusburger won one singles title on the WTA Tour, as well as fifteen singles and nine doubles titles on the ITF Circuit in her career. O ...
, Magdaléna Rybáriková, and Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals against Agnieszka Radwańska. In the third and deciding set, Janković came back from a 0–4 deficit, leveling the match at 4–4. Despite having game points in the following two games, she lost the match, 5–7, 6–2, 4–6. She suffered a shocking opening round exit in Miami against Varvara Lepchenko, serving for the match at 5–1 in the third set. She lost the match 3–6, 6–2, 6–7. Her clay court season started in Charleston, where she was the second seed and defending finalist. She made it to the quarterfinals, defeating
Lauren Davis Lauren Davis (born October 9, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. Known for her aggressive backhand, speed, and clay-court strength, she won her first title on the WTA Tour at the Auckland Open and reached a career-high singles ra ...
and
Ajla Tomljanović Ajla Tomljanović ( ; ; born 7 May 1993) is an Australian professional tennis player. She has won four singles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 October 2022, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33. On 5 Janu ...
. She lost to Eugenie Bouchard in three sets, continuing her three-set misery for 2014. On the red clay at
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the larges ...
, Janković made it to the finals, where she failed to defend her title against
Caroline Garcia Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion. She is also a two-ti ...
. She lost in straight sets. At the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix The Stuttgart Open, also known by its sponsored name Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, is a women's tennis tournament held in Stuttgart, Germany (until 2005, in Filderstadt, a southern suburb of Stuttgart). Held since 1978, the tournament is the oldest w ...
, she reached the semifinals after recording wins over
Mona Barthel Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player. Barthel has won four singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Ci ...
,
Flavia Pennetta Flavia Pennetta (; born 25 February 1982) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She became Italy's first top-ten female singles player on 17 August 2009 and the first Italian to be ranked world No. 1 in doubles, on 28 February 2011. ...
and Alisa Kleybanova. She then lost to compatriot Ana Ivanovic. Janković lost in the second round at
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. She did well at the Italian Open in Rome where she reached the semifinals, losing to Errani. She defeated Pennetta and third seed Agnieszka Radwańska en route. At Roland Garros, Janković was seeded sixth and she reached the fourth round where she lost to Errani again. Janković had a dismal grass court season. She lost her opening matches at
Eastbourne Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the la ...
and
Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * ...
to
Madison Keys Madison Keys (born February 17, 1995) is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 7 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), a ranking she first achieved in October 2016. Keys has played in one Grand Sla ...
and Kaia Kanepi respectively. In August, she participated in
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
as the seventh seed. She had a first-round bye and faced Sloane Stephens in her opener. She won in three tight sets. In the third round, she lost to rising American
CoCo Vandeweghe Colleen "CoCo" Vandeweghe ( ) (born Colleen Mullarkey; December 6, 1991) is an American professional tennis player. A former Junior US Open champion and top 10 singles player, she has also won two WTA titles, both at the Rosmalen Grass Court C ...
in another tight three-set match. At the 2014 Western & Southern Open, she was the 8th seed and received a first round bye. She defeated
Annika Beck Annika Beck (; born 16 February 1994) is a German former professional tennis player. She started playing tennis at the age of four when introduced to the game by her parents. A baseliner whose favorite shot is forehand, and favorite surface is ...
in the second round and then defeated Sloane Stephens for a spot in the quarterfinals. In the last eight, she lost to Serena again. Janković reached the 4th round at the US Open where she lost to
Belinda Bencic Belinda Bencic ( sk, Belinda Benčičová, ; born 10 March 1997) is a Swiss professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) which she achieved in February 2020. Bencic has won six singl ...
in straight sets. Janković fell out of the top 10 after the US Open concluded. Janković then travelled to Tokyo for the
Pan Pacific Open The Pan Pacific Open ( ja, 東レ パン・パシフィック・オープン・テニストーナメント), currently sponsored by Toray Industries, is a women's outdoor hardcourt tennis tournament held annually in Tokyo, Japan. It is a WTA 500-le ...
. She was the fourth seed and received a first round bye. She lost to
Garbiñe Muguruza Garbiñe Muguruza Blanco (; born 8 October 1993) is a Spanish-Venezuelan professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), and a career-high doubles ranking of world No. ...
in her opening match. At the inaugural
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
, Janković the tenth seed defeated
Christina McHale Christina Marietta McHale (born May 11, 1992) is an American former professional tennis player. Her highest-ever WTA rankings were No. 24 in singles and No. 35 in doubles. Known for an aggressive baseline game, McHale was recognized by ''The New ...
in the first round. In her following match, she faced Vandeweghe but retired in the first set while trailing 1–4 with a back problem. In
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
, Janković was the defending finalist but fell in three sets to Alizé Cornet in the opening round. Her last tournament of the season was the inaugural
Tianjin Open The Tianjin Open is an International-level WTA tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket th ...
where she was the top seed. She overcame
Alla Kudryavtseva Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player. Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Cir ...
in the first round. She then lost to
Zheng Saisai Zheng Saisai or Zheng Sai-Sai (; born February 5, 1994) is a Chinese tennis player. She won one WTA singles title (at the Premier level 2019 Silicon Valley Classic), five WTA doubles titles, and reached the final of the 2019 French Open in dou ...
.


2015: 600th win and new titles

Janković began 2015 at the
Brisbane International The Brisbane International established in 2009 is a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor hardcourts in Brisbane, Queensland in Australia. It is a WTA Premier tournament of the WTA Tour and was part of the ATP World Tour 250 seri ...
. Seeded sixth, she lost in the first round to Ajla Tomljanovic. She then admitted that she had recently thought to end her career because of a back injury. Also, she added that she lost a lot of muscle mass, had not done any activity in past two months and that she needs time to get back in normal form. Bad results continued in January, including a first-round loss at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
to
Timea Bacsinszky Timea Bacsinszky ( hu, Bacsinszky Tímea; born 8 June 1989) is a Swiss former professional tennis player who won four singles titles and five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 13 singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. A fo ...
. She had never lost her opener in Melbourne prior to this. She won her first match of 2015 in
Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...
, defeating
Tímea Babos Tímea Babos (; born 10 May 1993) is a Hungarian professional tennis player who is a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a four-time Grand Slam champion in women's doubles, having won the 2018 and 2020 Australian Opens, as well as the Fre ...
in three sets. In the second round she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza and dropped out of the top 20 as a result. The following week in
Doha Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...
, Janković reached the second round after beating Zheng Saisai. She faced top seed Petra Kvitová for a place in the quarterfinals but retired midway due to right hip injury. Despite coming to North America with 2–4 season record, Janković made the final at the BNP Paribas Open, beating reigning Australian Open semifinalist Madison Keys, Belinda Bencic and Sabine Lisicki en route. In the final where she faced Simona Halep, she managed to take the first set and serve for the match, but came up short. As a result, Janković returned to the top 20. In
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, Janković fell in her opening match for the second straight year when she was defeated by Victoria Azarenka. In April at the
Family Circle Cup The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
, Janković made the third round, conceding a walkover to
Danka Kovinic Danka may refer to: *A family affiliated with a Buddhist temple in Japan, or '' danka''. People with the given name * Danka Barteková (born 1984), Slovak skeet shooter *Danka Kovinić (born 1994), Montenegrin professional tennis player * Danka P ...
due to an injury. The following month at the Italian Open, Janković overcame
Camila Giorgi Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26, achieved on 22 October 2018. She is the current Italian No. 2, after Martina Trevisan. After winning her fi ...
and Magdaléna Rybáriková to set up a third round clash with Kvitová for a place in the last eight but was defeated by the fourth seeded Czech in straight sets. Janković then played in
Strasbourg Strasbourg (, , ; german: Straßburg ; gsw, label=Bas Rhin Alsatian, Strossburi , gsw, label=Haut Rhin Alsatian, Strossburig ) is the prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est region of eastern France and the official seat of the Eu ...
where she reached the quarterfinals but was forced to retire against Sloane Stephens. Janković then suffered her second consecutive opening round at a Grand Slam when she fell to qualifier
Sesil Karatantcheva Sesil Radoslavova Karatantcheva ( bg, Сесил Радославова Каратанчева; born 8 August 1989) is a Bulgarian former tennis player. In her career, she won nine singles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 November 2005, ...
in straight sets at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
. Janković's grass court season began in
's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...
where she was the second seed. She routinely advanced to the semifinals where she faced Bencic but lost in straight sets. At the
Aegon Classic The Birmingham Classic (currently sponsored by Rothesay Pensions) is a 250-level women's tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held at the Edgbaston Priory Club in Edgbaston, Birmingham, United Kingdom. Held at this location since 1982, the tour ...
, Janković defeated
Tereza Smitková Tereza Smitková (born 10 October 1994) is a Czech tennis player. Smitková has won one singles WTA 125 title as well as eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 6 April 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world ...
and
Casey Dellacqua Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
to advance to the third round. She lost to eventual champion Angelique Kerber. Janković won first two matches in three-setters at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
and then made the biggest upset during the tournament by taking out the defending champion and world No. 2 Kvitová in the third round, having lost their two previous matches this year. She fought back from a set and a break down to prevail. Her win granted her a place in the fourth round, where she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska. It was the first time since 2010 that Janković made the second week and won consecutive matches at Wimbledon; her performance also made 2015 the first year since 2007 that Janković won more than 5 grass court matches. After losing in the first round of the Istanbul Open to Urszula Radwańska, Janković won the WTA 125K title in
Nanchang Nanchang (, ; ) is the capital of Jiangxi Province, People's Republic of China. Located in the north-central part of the province and in the hinterland of Poyang Lake Plain, it is bounded on the west by the Jiuling Mountains, and on the east ...
by defeating
Chang Kai-chen Chang Kai-chen (; ; born January 13, 1991) is a Taiwanese former professional tennis player. Career Her father is Chang Chin-lai and mother is Jun Yu-mei; she has two older brothers, Yao-lun and Yao-chung (both play tennis). Born and raised ...
. She did not drop a set throughout the tournament. This tournament revitalized her career and opened her path to a successful Chinese hard court season, right after the second round of the
Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...
and an excellent semifinal in
Cincinnati Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
after beating Madison Keys and eight-seeded
Karolína Plíšková Karolína Hrdličková ( née Plíšková; ; born 21 March 1992) is a Czech professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in singles, reaching the top of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings on 17 July 2017 and holding the pos ...
en route. Janković then suffered a shocking loss to wildcard
Océane Dodin Océane Dodin (, born 24 October 1996) is a professional tennis player from France. Ranked by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA), she reached a career-high of 46 as a singles player in June 2017 and No. 375 in October 2017 as a doubles player ...
in the first round of the US Open. Janković completed a great Asian swing and confirmed her excellent results in China by winning her 14th career title in
Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of Guangdong province in southern China. Located on the Pearl River about north-northwest of Hong Kon ...
, her first since 2013. She saved match point in the semifinals against Yanina Wickmayer, before losing just two games in the final against
Denisa Allertová Denisa is a feminine given name, equivalent to English '' Denise'', used in various European languages, particularly in Albanian, Croatian, Czech, Romanian, Slovak and Slovenian. Notable people with the name include: * Denisa Chládková * Denisa D ...
. At the
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
, Janković defeated
Heather Watson Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri K ...
in the first round in three sets. She faced sixth seed Angelique Kerber in the second round but lost in three sets. Janković won her third title of the season (and milestone 15th career WTA title) at
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
by battling past Venus Williams in the semifinals in a tight two sets win. Janković then hung tough against world No. 9 and top-seeded Angelique Kerber (Janković's third top-ten win of the year), coming back from a set down to capture the title with a three-set victory.


2016: Injuries and loss of form

Janković started her 2016 season in
Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...
, but lost in the first round against recent US Open finalist and eighth seed Roberta Vinci in three sets despite being up a set. She then traveled to
Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...
and won her first-round match against CoCo Vandeweghe in straight sets. However, she fell to Sara Errani in two tie-break sets in the second round despite being up 5–1 in the second set. Seeded nineteenth at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
, Janković won her first-round match against Polona Hercog. She suffered a second-round upset at the hands of
Laura Siegemund Laura Natalie Siegemund (born 4 March 1988, in Filderstadt) is a German professional tennis player. She is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2020 US Open in women's doubles with Vera Zvonareva, as well as the 2016 US Open in mi ...
. During the
Fed Cup The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was cha ...
tie versus Spain, Janković lost both of her matches to Carla Suárez Navarro and Garbiñe Muguruza. Serbia ended up losing 0–4. At the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
, Janković upset fifth seed Belinda Bencic in the first round to get her first top-10 win of the season. However, she lost in the second round to Andrea Petkovic. Seeded fourteenth at the
Qatar Total Open The Qatar Ladies Open, currently sponsored by TotalEnergies and called the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, is a women's tennis tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoo ...
, Janković was tested by qualifier
Jana Čepelová Jana Čepelová (; born 29 May 1993) is an inactive Slovak tennis player. She has won seven singles titles and three doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 12 May 2014, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 50. On 18 May 2015, she p ...
in the first round but managed to win in three sets. She exited the tournament after losing to Monica Niculescu in the second round. Janković then went to the BNP Paribas Open having to defend finalist points from the previous year. Seeded nineteenth, she received a bye into the second round and beat
Carina Witthöft Carina Witthöft (also spelled Witthoeft, born 16 February 1995) is an inactive German professional tennis player. She has won one singles title on the WTA Tour whereas on the ITF Women's Circuit, she has won eleven singles titles and one doubles ...
in straight sets. Janković then dominated CoCo Vandeweghe in her third-round match; she only conceded one game. She then lost to third seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the fourth round. Seeded eighteenth at the Miami Open, Janković withdrew from her second round match against qualifier
Magda Linette Magda Linette (born 12 February 1992) is a Polish professional tennis player. Having made her tour debut in 2009, she reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 33 in February 2020. Linette has reached five finals on the WTA Tour, winning ...
due to a right shoulder injury. Her clay-court season didn't open so well as she was forced to withdraw from the
Volvo Car Open The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
because of the right shoulder injury she sustained in Miami. Janković returned to action at the
Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
. She lost in the first round to Sorana Cîrstea. At the Italian Open, Janković was defeated in the first round by Eugenie Bouchard. Seeded twenty-third at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Janković lost in the first round to Tatjana Maria. Janković opened her grass-court season at the
Ricoh Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
. Seeded second, she was defeated in the second round by Evgeniya Rodina. Seeded second at the first edition of the Mallorca Open, Janković reached the semifinal round where she lost to Anastasija Sevastova. Seeded twenty-second at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, Janković lost in a second round thriller to qualifier Marina Erakovic. Seeded second at the first edition of the
Ladies Championship Gstaad The Ladies Open Lausanne originally founded in 1899 as the Swiss International Championships. It is a women's professional tennis tournament which is currently played in Lausanne but has played in a number of locations in Switzerland. History T ...
, Janković suffered a first-round upset at the hands of world no. 797
Rebeka Masarova Rebeka Masarova ( sk, Rebeka Masárová, ; born 6 August 1999) is a Spanish–Swiss tennis player. She has career-high WTA rankings of 121 in singles and 170 in doubles. The 2016 French Open junior champion started representing Spain in January ...
. As the top seed at the
Brasil Tennis Cup The Brasil Tennis Cup was a professional women's tennis tournament contested in various Brazilian cities since 1977. The last edition was played on outdoor hard courts in Florianópolis, Brazil. In 2015, the tournament was held on clay courts. ...
, Janković fell in the second round to Ana Bogdan. Ranked forty at the US Open, Janković lost in the second round to eleventh seed Carla Suárez Navarro. Seeded second and last year champion at the
Guangzhou International Women's Open The Guangzhou International Women's Open is a tennis tournament held in Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. Held since 2004, the inaugural tournament had Li Na Li Na (born 26 February 1982) is a Chinese former professional tennis player. ...
, Janković again reached the final but lost to Lesia Tsurenko. At the
Wuhan Open The Wuhan Open (currently sponsored by Dongfeng Motor) is a tennis tournament held in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China and organized for female professional tennis players. It is one of the WTA 1000 tournaments on the WTA Tour and made its debut in t ...
, Janković upset second seed Garbiñe Muguruza in her second-round match. She was then defeated in the third round by Barbora Strýcová. In Beijing at the China Open, Janković lost in the first round to
Kristina Mladenovic Kristina "Kiki" Mladenovic (; sr, Кристина "Кики" Младеновић, Kristina "Kiki" Mladenović, ; born 14 May 1993) is a French professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles. She is a nine-time Grand Slam ch ...
. Seeded seventh and the defending champion at the
Hong Kong Tennis Open The Hong Kong Open (currently sponsored by Prudential and called the Prudential Hong Kong Tennis Open) is a professional tennis tournament in Hong Kong SAR. Organised by the Hong Kong Tennis Association, the tournament is held annually in ear ...
, Janković was defeated in her semifinal match by fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki. Janković played her final tournament of the season at the
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...
. She lost in the second round to seventh seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Janković ended the year ranked 54.


2017: Recovery, continued struggles with form and worst ranking since 2003

Janković started her season at the Shenzhen Open where she lost in the first round to second seed Simona Halep. Next, she progressed to
Hobart Hobart ( ; Nuennonne/Palawa kani: ''nipaluna'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian island state of Tasmania. Home to almost half of all Tasmanians, it is the least-populated Australian state capital city, and second-small ...
where she suffered a tough first-round defeat to third seed and eventual finalist Monica Niculescu. Conveniently, Janković gave, arguably, her best performance of the year at the
Australian Open The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. Th ...
. She beat twenty-sixth seed Laura Siegemund and Julia Görges in her first two rounds. In the third round, she faced eighth seed and longtime rival Svetlana Kuznetsova. Kuznetsova ended up outlasting Janković in the third set 9–7 in what is currently the third-longest main draw match in Australian Open history. As the eighth seed at the Taiwan Open, Janković was stunned by Kurumi Nara in the first round, despite having taken the first set. Janković found herself needing to qualify for the main draw at the
Qatar Total Open The Qatar Ladies Open, currently sponsored by TotalEnergies and called the Qatar TotalEnergies Open, is a women's tennis tournament held in Doha, Qatar. Held since 2001, this WTA Tour event was a Tier I-tournament in 2008, and was played on outdoo ...
, and she did so successfully. However, she was defeated in the first round by Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The following week, Janković played at the
Dubai Tennis Championships The Dubai Tennis Championships or Dubai Open (also known as the ''Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships'' for sponsorship reasons) (formerly known for sponsorship reasons as the ''Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships'' and the ''Dubai Duty Free Men's ...
. She lost in the first round to German wildcard Mona Barthel. In March, Janković competed at the BNP Paribas Open. She defeated American wildcard Irina Falconi in the first round. In the second round, she was up against twelfth seed and rival Venus Williams. Janković raced to a one-set lead and appeared on course to the third round when Williams began finding her range. Janković squandered match points before losing a second set tiebreak and, eventually, the match. As a result, Janković's singles ranking dropped to 54. This loss would tie up the rivalry between Janković and the seven-time Grand Slam champion at seven wins apiece. Janković started the second leg of the Sunshine Swing in
Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
with a first-round loss in a third set tiebreak to Yaroslava Shvedova. Janković began her clay-court season in Charleston at the
Volvo Car Open The Credit One Charleston Open, formerly known as the Volvo Car Open and the Family Circle Cup, is a WTA Tour-affiliated professional tennis tournament for women, held every year since 1973. It is the oldest professional all-women's tournament in ...
. She defeated
Ekaterina Alexandrova Ekaterina Evgenyevna Alexandrova ( rus, Екатери́на Евге́ньевна Александро́ва, links=no; ; born 15 November 1994) is a Russian professional tennis player. She has won three WTA singles titles, three WTA 125 titl ...
in the first round. She was defeated in the second round by sixth seed Sam Stosur. In Prague at the J&T Banka Prague Open, Janković lost in the first round to eventual finalist
Kristýna Plíšková Kristýna Plíšková (; born 21 March 1992) is an inactive Czech professional tennis player. Plíšková has won one singles and four doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as nine singles and eight doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 31 Ju ...
. At the
Mutua Madrid Open The Madrid Open ( es, Masters de Madrid, link=no), currently sponsored by Mutua Madrileña and known as the Mutua Madrid Open, is a joint men's and women's professional tennis tournament, held in Madrid, during early May. The clay-court event is ...
, Janković was defeated in the first round by fourth seed and last year finalist Dominika Cibulková. Playing her final tournament before the French Open at the Italian Open, Janković lost in the second round to Julia Görges. Ranked sixty-three at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, Janković was defeated in the first round by qualifier
Richèl Hogenkamp Richèl Hogenkamp (born 16 April 1992) is a Dutch professional tennis player. Her highest WTA singles ranking is 94, which she reached on 24 July 2017. On the ITF Circuit, she has won 16 singles and 14 doubles titles. Personal background Hog ...
. Janković had a very poor grass-court season. She suffered a first-round loss at the
Ricoh Open The Rosmalen Grass Court Championships, branded by its sponsored name as the Libéma Open since 2018, (formerly known as the Continental Grass Court Championships, Heineken Trophy, Ordina Open, UNICEF Open, Topshelf Open and RICOH Open), is a pro ...
to qualifier Petra Krejsová. At the Mallorca Open, Janković was defeated in the first round by third seed and defending champion Caroline Garcia. Ranked sixty-seven at the
Wimbledon Championships The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, All England Club in ...
, Janković lost in round one to ninth seed Agnieszka Radwańska. Seeded sixth at the
Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open The Jiangxi International Women's Tennis Open is a tournament for professional female tennis players played on outdoor hard courts. The event is held at the Nanchang Tennis Center in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, China. It is also part of the China ...
, Janković was defeated in the second round by Chinese qualifier
Lu Jingjing Lu Jingjing (; ; born 5 May 1989) is a Chinese tennis player. Jingjing has won one WTA doubles title, and four singles and 14 doubles titles on the ITF Women's World Tennis Tour, ITF Women's Circuit. On 15 January 2018, she reached her best s ...
. In Washington, D.C. at the
Citi Open The Washington Open (known as the Citi Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual hardcourt tennis tournament played at the William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center in Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C. The Washington Open is part of the ATP Tour 50 ...
, Janković retired in the third set of her first-round encounter with fifth seed Océane Dodin due to back pain. At the US Open, Janković lost in the first round to thirteenth seed Petra Kvitová. Janković underwent back surgery in October; she has not played another tournament since then. She ended the year ranked 153, her worst ranking since January 2003.


2018–2019: Uncertainty looms

Due to her back surgery in October 2017, Janković missed the entire 2018 and 2019 seasons. She also underwent eye surgery in May 2018, further delaying any comeback plans. For the first time since 2001, she was unranked in the WTA singles rankings.


2022: Retirement

Janković did not participate in any WTA tournaments prior to the suspension of the tour due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Janković announced on Instagram that she would participate in an exhibition tournament in
Belgrade Belgrade ( , ;, ; Names of European cities in different languages: B, names in other languages) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city in Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers a ...
, partnering with
Novak Djokovic Novak Djokovic ( sr-Cyrl, Новак Ђоковић, translit=Novak Đoković, ; born 22 May 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player. He has been ranked world No. 1 for a record total 373 weeks, and has finished as the year-end No. 1 ...
in a mixed doubles match. This was her first tennis match since September 2017. After the match, Janković admitted that she still was uncertain about a possible comeback on the professional tour. Janković eventually announced her retirement in July 2022.


Rivalries


Janković vs. Ivanovic

A prominent rivalry in women's tennis was the one between Janković and fellow Fed Cup teammate and Serbian compatriot Ana Ivanovic. They have met 12 times, with Ivanovic leading 9–3 overall. Seven of their eleven meetings have come at important stages of tournaments, while two have come at Grand Slam tournaments; Janković trails in both categories 1–6 and 0–2 respectively. Both players were touted as future top players following their breakthrough in 2007 and 2008, however, both have since underperformed on the WTA Tour and dropped out of the Top 10 in contrasting circumstances. Matches between Janković and Ivanovic are often given the nickname "The Battle of Serbia". Since the end of 2008, both have struggled at the Grand Slams, with Janković only being able to reach the semi-finals of the 2010 French Open and the quarter-finals of the
2013 French Open The 2013 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 117th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 26 May to 9 June. It consisted of e ...
and Ivanovic the quarter-finals of the 2012 US Open and 2014 Australian Open, and the semi-finals of the 2015 French Open. Their most important meeting to date was in the semifinals of the 2008 French Open; the match was one of historic proportions as it would decide which of the two would become the first Serbian player, male or female, to gain the world No. 1 ranking. In a match that lasted three sets and saw one player try to gain authority over the other, Ivanovic prevailed; the result saw Ivanovic claim the world No. 1 ranking for the first time, however Janković would herself claim the ranking later that year. The pair were involved in a long-running feud in early 2010, arising from Ivanovic's decision not to play in Serbia's Fed Cup World Group play-off against Slovakia due to her poor form at the time. They met in a controversial encounter at the Madrid Premier Mandatory tournament in May that year, in which Janković appeared to criticise and imitate Ivanovic's fist-pumping habit following a three-set victory. It was only Janković's third (and most recent to date) victory against Ivanovic, after previously winning in 2006 and 2008. At Indian Wells in 2011, Janković was the defending champion, but Ivanovic defeated her in the fourth round, ending her title defence. That would be their last meeting in a WTA Tour match until the 2013 Australian Open, where Ivanovic prevailed in the third round. Their most recent meeting was in the semi-finals of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in 2014 with Janković losing again in straight sets. List of all matches


Janković vs. Zvonareva

Jelena Janković and
Vera Zvonareva Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
have met 14 times with Zvonareva leading their head-to-head 8–6. Their first meeting was in 2005 with Zvonareva winning a second round match in Rome. They met six times in 2008 with Janković winning four of the six meetings, including three consecutive times in three consecutive tournaments during the fall. The third match in this streak was the final of the
Kremlin Cup The Kremlin Cup (russian: Кубок Кремля) is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts, which was suspended in 2022. It was part of the ATP Tour 250 series of the ATP Tour and was a Premier Tournament on the WTA ...
, which was the third consecutive title won by Janković in a stretch which also included titles in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and
Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
. Janković had defeated Zvonareva on her way to the two titles which preceded the Kremlin Cup. However, Zvonareva would defeat Janković at the
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations *Washington Trails Association *Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Water ...
later that year; this would be the start of an ongoing five-match winning streak against Janković. Their only meeting at a Grand Slam tournament was at Wimbledon in 2010, in the tournament's fourth round. Zvonareva won, reaching her first quarter-finals of the grass court Major (and eventually went on to reach the final), after Janković retired whilst trailing in the second set. Their most recent meeting was at the Qatar Ladies Open in 2011 with Zvonareva winning in three sets. It was her fifth straight victory over Janković, dating back to 2008. List of all matches


Janković vs. Venus Williams

Jelena Janković and
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
have met fourteen times and each player has won seven times. Janković leads 4–2 on clay courts and 1–0 on grass, whilst Venus leads 4–1 on hard. Their rivalry is one of the most competitive and even in women's tennis. Only three of their matches have been decided in straight sets: their first meeting in the quarter-finals of the 2005 East of the West Bank Classic, which Venus won; the second was in the quarter-finals of the
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia The 2010 Italian Open (also known as the 2010 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event ...
which Janković won with 6–0, 6–1; this was the worst ever defeat in Venus Williams' entire career, and their third and most recent meeting in the second round of the 2012 Family Circle Cup, which Venus won in straight sets. They have met three times in Grand Slam tournaments. Janković caused an upset at Wimbledon in 2006 where she defeated the defending champion in the third round, winning in three sets. They met twice at the Majors in 2007, Janković winning at the
French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...
, and Williams winning at the US Open in 2007. Both matches required a third set. They have also met twice at the
WTA Tour Championships WTA may refer to: Organizations *Washington Trails Association *Whatcom Transportation Authority *Waskahegan Trail Association, the management board for the Waskahegan Trail *Water Transit Authority, former name of the San Francisco Bay Area Water ...
, both times in the semifinals with Williams winning in three sets on both occasions. Their most recent meeting transpired in the 2017 BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Janković appeared on her way to victory in this second round meeting at 6–1, 4–1 up before Williams came racing back to win a 2nd set tiebreak and force a decider, which she proceeded to win 6–1 en route to the quarterfinals. List of all matches


Janković vs. Serena Williams

Janković and
Serena Williams Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) for ...
have met 14 times, with Serena leading 10–4 overall. Their first seven matches and the last match were on hardcourts, which Serena leads 7–3. The eighth and tenth match were on clay and the ninth was on grass. In 2004, they played their first match in San Diego; Serena won in three sets. The second match was at the 2005 Dubai Tennis Championships semifinal, with Janković causing an upset (Serena was world No. 4). When Janković was leading 6–0, 4–3, Serena retired. She is one of nine players who won a 6–0 set against Serena. The others are
Venus Williams Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She is ...
,
Alexia Dechaume-Balleret Alexia Dechaume-Balleret (born 3 May 1970) is a former professional tennis player from France. In her career, she reached three finals on the WTA Tour: at Taranto in 1990, she lost to Raffaella Reggi, and in New York in 1991, she lost to Brend ...
,
Mary Joe Fernández Mary Joe Fernández Godsick (born María José Fernández; August 19, 1971) is an American former professional tennis player, who reached a career-high ranking of world No. 4 in both singles and doubles. In singles, Fernández was the runner-up ...
,
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
,
Patty Schnyder Patty Schnyder (born 14 December 1978)
Weltwoche, 14. September 2011
is a Swiss reti ...
,
Anabel Medina Garrigues Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player. As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
,
Simona Halep Simona Halep (; born 27 September 1991) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked world No. 1 in singles twice between 2017 and 2019, for a total of 64 weeks, which ranks eleventh in the history of the Women's Tennis Assoc ...
, and
Johanna Konta Johanna Konta (born 17 May 1991) is a British former professional tennis player, having represented Australia until 2012. She won four singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 11 singles and four doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. The ...
. Janković won at the LA Women's Tennis Championships in 2006 in straight sets, and Serena won at the Australian Open in 2007. At the Australian Open in 2008 quarterfinal, Janković won in two sets. At the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, Miami, they met in a final for the first time. Serena won in three sets. They played again in the final, and again in USA – at the US Open in 2008. Serena won in two sets. In the second set Janković had 5–3 and three consecutive set points on Serena serve. Later, when she was serving for the set at 5–4, she missed one more set point. However, Serena saved all set points and won four games in a row for US Open title. Two years later, in the semifinal of the
2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia The 2010 Italian Open (also known as the 2010 Rome Masters and sponsored title 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia) was a tennis tournament, being played on outdoor clay courts at the Foro Italico in Rome, Italy. It was the 67th edition of the event ...
Janković won in three sets, saving match point in doing so and coming back from 5–2 down in the final set tie-break. In the quarter-final she had defeated Venus Williams, becoming the only woman to defeat both of the
Williams sisters The Williams sisters are two professional American tennis players: Venus Williams (b. 1980), a seven-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), and Serena Williams (b. 1981), twenty-three-time Grand Slam title winner (singles), both of whom were c ...
in a 24-hour period. Their opening round match at the
Tennis at the 2012 Summer Olympics The tennis tournaments at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London were staged at the All England Club in Wimbledon, from 28 July to 5 August. This was the first Olympic grass court tournament since tennis was reintroduced as an Olympic sport and the ...
was their first and only match on grass. Janković wasn't seeded and Serena won in two sets before going on to win the gold medal. At the final of the
2013 Family Circle Cup The 2013 Family Circle Cup was a women's tennis event in the 2013 WTA Tour. It took place from March 30 to April 7, 2013. It was the 41st edition of the tournament and a Premier level tournament. The event was hosted at the Family Circle Tennis C ...
, Charleston, Serena won in three sets. Again in 2013, at China Open, they met in the final and Serena won in two sets. At
WTA Championships The WTA Finals (formerly known as the WTA Tour Championships or WTA Championships) is a tournament of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) played annually at the end of the season. The event is uniquely reserved for players at the top of the WTA ...
Serena won their semifinal match after losing second set convincingly, 6–2. Their most recent meeting occurred in the quarterfinal of the 2014 Western & Southern Open, where Serena won in straight sets. Serena improved to 6–0 record since it was 4–4.


Janković vs. Justine Henin

Jelena Janković and
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
met ten times over a span of six years with Henin prevailing each time. They never met on carpet or grass. Five of their matches were on clay and five on hard courts. Six of their matches went three sets. The majority (7) of their matches occurred during the 2007 season. They met twice in Grand Slams (2006 U.S. Open semifinals, 2007 French Open semifinals) as well as the round-robin stage of the 2007 tour championships. Despite their lopsided head-to-head results, their matches were always highly competitive. List of all matches


Playing style

Jelena Janković is a defensive baseliner, and is often regarded as a
counterpuncher Players use different strategies while playing tennis to enhance their own strengths and exploit their opponent's weaknesses in order to gain the advantage and win more points. Players typically specialize or naturally play in a certain way, bas ...
. Janković is known for being able to slide effectively on all surfaces. Janković has very consistent groundstrokes and prefers to go down the line more often than crosscourt. Her biggest weapons are her two-handed
backhand The backhand is a shot used in most racket sports, such as tennis and pickleball, where the back of the hand precedes the palm when swinging the racket. Except in the phrase ''backhand volley'', the term refers to a groundstroke (where th ...
, especially down the line, and the drop shot. She also has a decent forehand. Her net game has improved as a result of additional doubles play, meaning that she is now able to hit effective drive, drop and swinging volleys. Her main weakness is her serve. She likes to spin it in on the first and second serve which can lead to her getting broken many times in matches. Her weakest surface is considered grass and her best surface is fast hard courts, where she can use her defensive skills and speed to win matches. However, given the fact that six of her fifteen titles have come on clay, this could also be considered her best surface. One of the most high-profile achievements of her career occurred on grass in the third round of the 2015 Wimbledon Championships, when she defeated Petra Kvitová, the defending champion, a two-time Wimbledon title holder, then-no. 2 in the world (when Janković had dropped to world no. 30), and the only player who had defeated Serena Williams that year. Janković's ups and downs are often caused by her fragile mindset (see US Open 2006 vs Henin), and they have resulted in her being nicknamed 'Queen Chaos.'


Personal life

Janković was the subject of the 2008 autobiographical documentary, '' Jelenin svet (Jelena's World),'' featuring
Justine Henin Justine Henin (; born 1 June 1982) is a Belgian former professional tennis player. She spent a total of 117 weeks as the world No. 1 and was the year-end No. 1 in 2003, 2006 and 2007. Henin, coming from a country with limited success in te ...
,
Svetlana Kuznetsova Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. I ...
, Ana Ivanovic,
Elena Dementieva Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver medal at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. ...
,
Anna Chakvetadze Anna Djambuliovna Chakvetadze ( ; born 5 March 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. In her career, Chakvetadze won eight WTA Tour singles titles, the biggest being the 2006 Kremlin Cup. She booked her highest singles ranking o ...
and other notable players. On 5 December 2007, Janković became a
UNICEF UNICEF (), originally called the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund in full, now officially United Nations Children's Fund, is an agency of the United Nations responsible for providing Humanitarianism, humanitarian and Devel ...
National Ambassador for
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
, for Children's Fund. "I am happy to have become a UNICEF ambassador for Serbia. This is a great honour for me and I will try to justify the role that has been given to me", she said. Janković is the second Serbian tennis star to have volunteered to help promote the rights of children and collect funds for UNICEF after Ana Ivanovic became an ambassador in September. Janković is a cousin of Serbian singer Dijana Janković, internationally better known as Didi J. On 6 April 2021, Janković gave birth to a baby girl in Belgrade, Serbia.


Endorsements

Janković is currently sponsored by Italian sportswear company
Fila Fila Holdings Corp. is a sportswear brand of shoes and apparel. The company was founded by Ettore and Giansevero Fila in 1911 in Coggiola, near Biella, Piedmont, Italy. In 2003, it was sold to United States-based Sports Brand International. Sub ...
. Previously, Janković had endorsed
Anta Anta may refer to: Biology * Fava d'anta, a tree found in Brazil * South American tapir, known in Portuguese as '' * ''Phytelephas seemannii'', known in Quechua and Choco as '' Places * Anta Department, in Salta Province, Argentina * Anta, a ci ...
and
Reebok Reebok International Limited () is an American fitness footwear and clothing manufacturer that is a part of Authentic Brands Group. It was established in England in 1958 as a companion company to J.W. Foster and Sons, a sporting goods company ...
sportswear, and had her own line with them for her tournament wear. Janković also has an endorsement with
Prince Sports Prince Global Sports, LLC is an American sporting goods manufacturing company based in Atlanta, Georgia. Founded in 1970, Prince's range of products includes rackets, footwear, apparel, tennis balls, pickleball paddles, stringing machines, hats a ...
: in her early career until 2007, she played with the original Prince O3 Red; from 2008 to 2010 she used the Prince O3 SpeedPort Pro White; from 2011 to 2013 Janković played with different types of racquets and in 2012 and 2013 she chose blacked out ones; since January 2014 Janković has been playing with the Prince O3 Red LS.


Career statistics


Grand Slam singles performance timeline


Singles


Doubles


Mixed doubles


Grand Slam finals


Singles: 1 (1 runner–up)


Mixed doubles: 1 (1 title)


Awards and honours

;2002 * Junior Sports Girl of the Year in FR Yugoslavia ;2003 * Best Sportswoman of
SD Crvena Zvezda Sportsko društvo Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Спортско друштво Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Sports Society), commonly abbreviated as SD Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, СД Црвена звезда, link=no), is a multi-sport c ...
;2004 * Best Tennis Player in Serbia and Montenegro ;2006 * WTA Most Improved Player of the Year * Best Tennis Player in Serbia ;2007 * Serbian Sport Association "May Award" * WTA Tour ACES Award * National Tennis Association Award Best Female Player * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2008 * ITF Women's Singles World Champion * Status Magazine's The Personality of the Year * Best European Award * AIPS Best Third Athlete * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2009 * Guinness Book of World Records in Making a Photo-Mosaic * Oscar of Popularity Best Female Athlete * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2010 * Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award (World Group / World Group II first round) * Oscar of Popularity Best Female Athlete * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2011 * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2012 * Fed Cup by BNP Paribas Heart Award (World Group semifinals) * Serbian Women's Team of The Year (2012, ''as part of
Serbia Fed Cup team The Serbian Billie Jean King Cup team represents Serbia in Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Tennis Federation of Serbia. They will compete in 2019 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I at Venue 1 in Bath, United Kingdom ...
'') * Award ''Pride of the Nation'' by Serbia Tennis Federation ;2013 * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2016 * Best Female Tennis Player in Serbia ;2017 *
Order of Karađorđe's Star The Order of Karađorđe's Star ( sr, Orden Karađorđeve zvezde, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Орден Карађорђеве звезде) is Serbia's highest civilian and military decoration. It originated in the Kingdom of Serbia, and was initial ...


See also

*
ITF World Champions The International Tennis Federation (ITF) designates a World Champion each year based on performances throughout the year, emphasising the Grand Slam tournaments,ITF Constitution, p.26, Rule 2.2(a)(iii) and also considering team events such as th ...
*
List of Grand Slam girls' singles champions List of Girls' Singles Junior Grand Slam tournaments tennis champions. Many of these junior champions went on to become major champions and world No. 1s on the senior tour including Evonne Goolagong Cawley (world No. 1 and 8-time major winner), ...
*
List of Wimbledon Mixed Doubles champions This is a list of the champions and runners-up of the Wimbledon Championships Mixed Doubles tournament, first introduced to the championship in 1913. From 1915 to 1918, and from 1940 to 1945, no competition was held due to the two World Wars. Fro ...
*
List of WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players The WTA rankings are the Women's Tennis Association's (WTA) merit-based system for determining the rankings in women's tennis. The top-ranked player is the player who, over the previous 52 weeks, has garnered the most ranking points on the WT ...
*
Serbia Fed Cup team The Serbian Billie Jean King Cup team represents Serbia in Billie Jean King Cup tennis competition and are governed by the Tennis Federation of Serbia. They will compete in 2019 Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I at Venue 1 in Bath, United Kingdom ...
*
Tennis performance timeline comparison (women) This article presents in a tabular form the career tennis Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships and Olympic singles results of every woman who has reached the singles final of at least one Grand Slam, World Hard Court Championships or Olympi ...
* '' Jelenin svet'' *
List of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors This is a list of UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors and advocates, who work on behalf of the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund for children's rights. UNICEF goodwill ambassadors are usually selected by regional and national U ...
*
Sports in Serbia Sport in Serbia plays an important role, and the country has a strong sporting history. The most popular sports in Serbia are football, basketball, tennis, volleyball, water polo and handball. Professional sports in Serbia are organized by sport ...


References


External links

* * * * * * * *
United Athletes Magazine
Interview with Janković (from November 2006). {{DEFAULTSORT:Jankovic, Jelena 1985 births Living people Serbian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates Serbian female tennis players Serbia and Montenegro female tennis players Tennis players from Belgrade Olympic tennis players of Serbia and Montenegro Olympic tennis players of Serbia Tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Tennis players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Wimbledon champions Australian Open (tennis) junior champions Hopman Cup competitors Grand Slam (tennis) champions in mixed doubles Grand Slam (tennis) champions in girls' singles UNICEF Goodwill Ambassadors Women ambassadors Megatrend University alumni WTA number 1 ranked singles tennis players ITF World Champions