Serbian rivals Jankovic
and Ivanovic have different versions of their first match.
FROM THE EAST WEST BANK CLASSIC IN LA –
Ana Ivanovic recalls first playing Jelena Jankovic at the infamous swimming
pool in Belgrade in a 10-and-under tournament in, when her elder waxed
her 7-1 in a Serbian proset.
Jankovic said it never happened and that should they have played as kids,
Ivanovic was a much better player at the time.
Whatever the case, the two Serbians will meet for the fifth time in the
LA semifinals, after Jankovic overcame Victoria Azarenka 6-4, 6-7, 6-2
and Ivanovic held off Maria Kirilenko 6-4, 6-4.
The third-ranked Jankovic says that the press makes too much of their
rivalry, wanting to extinguish the word itself. But the 19-year-old
Ivanovic, who owns a 3-1 edge over the 22-year-old, wants a piece of
her.
"It's nice to see someone else from your country doing is well but
its motivating for me because she's ranked No. 3 and I would
like to get over her," the fifth-ranked Ivanovic said. It will
be a tough one."
Jankovic was taken aback when she heard that statement, but actually
added more fuel to the fire when saying that she's motivated by who
is in front of her, rather than behind her.
"I want to be the No. 1 player in the world," Jankovic
said. "We each have own goals. I'm not into playing a Serbian and
that it's a big deal. It's just like any other match. I want to have
a rivalry with the best players in the world. I want to be No. 2
and have a rivalry with No. 1. I don't want to look behind me.
Why do you want to go back and look at someone who is 7, 8 or 1,000?
If you want to be the best, you have to beat everybody."
Serbia is full of tabloids and apparently Jankovic has read stories where
she feels her rivalry with Ivanovic was exaggerated. It might be to
some degree, but the two are not friends, their mothers aren't close
even though they see each other frequently and Jankovic is none too
thrilled that Ivanovic has never played Fed Cup, while she’s shouldered
an incredible load.
That doesn't mean that they dislike each other, but it doesn't mean that
they are buddy-buddy either.
"The media makes false rivalries between the players,” Jankovic
said. “We are opponents on court and when we get off the court we
should be fiends but because of the way the media [spins stories]....when
we get off the court we kind of hate each other for no reason and nothing
really happened between us. When we get off the court we say I don't want
to see that girl anymore and that’s because the stories are written
in some other concept and that's wrong."
Back to the alleged junior match, which Ivanovic said did occur at the
swimming pool. Ivanovic says she was seven or eight-years-old at the
time. "She was 10 and at the top and she was the highest
ranked. She was two years older than me, so it was good I won a game," Ivanovic
said.
Jankovic was stunned when she heard Ivanovic's recollection, as she believes
she was a much lesser player at the time and never had a chance to
play the superior Ivanovic.
"I just started to play when I was nine-and-a-half. She was the
better player when we younger,” Jankovic said. “She knew
how to hit and I was barely passing the ball over the net. I was a complete
beginner and she an intermediate beginner, I was serving underhanded.
I wasn't good at all at 10. How could I beat her 7-1 when I didn't know
how to play? I remember when they were choosing groups and she was with
the group that was already playing and the other were worse and she was
the better one. She was the one who was playing and I was the one just
starting to get lessons."
Jankovic does have some vivid memories of playing at higher level at the
Belgrade pool before she headed to Florida.
"I won a 10-kilo watermelon. It was in the summer time and instead
of getting a trophy I got a watermelon. We opened it right there. Sweet
victory. … It was better if you were 14-years-old because you got a
14-kilo one. I said, 'I can't wait to grow up and get a bigger watermelon.' "
Every player at the tournament is calling it a USO warm-up, which it is,
but that doesn't mean that individual matches here won't play into what
will occur in NYC.
Jankovic needed another win over Ivanovic, who handcuffs with a whizzing
al-around attack. She doesn't allow her elder to work her way into comfortable
sprinting patterns, as she cracks her hammer of a forehand and fires
away. Neither woman is serving great nor it will be the woman who is
effective in that department who will have the edge. If Jankovic can’t
get Ivanovic wheezing side to side, she’ll have no chance.
"What's difficult for her is to handle the speed so I play aggressive
and not give her time, because if you let her run she can dominate." Jankovic
added, "Her game doesn't suit mine - she goes for broke
and doesn't like to play many points. If she's on top of her game it
will be really difficult and I'm really struggling. I'm not happy with
the way I'm playing. I have a lot of hard work to do before the US Open.
SHARAPOVA V. PETROVA
Maria Sharapova got her measure of revenge over title holder Elena Dementieva
6-3, 6-4 and will meet fourth seed Nadia Petrova, who moved on with a
6-7, 6-4, 6-1 victory over Virginie Razzano, who hurt her neck in the
third set.
Despite waking up with no energy and being unable to keep a ball inside
the lines in practice, Sharapova moved well and was murderous off the
ground, even though Dementieva did damage with her forehand. Sharapova
is looking like she was on cruise control up 4-1 in the second set and
holding a break point, but Dementieva nailed a forehand down the line
on break point and eventually crept back to 4-4. Sharapova then held
5-4 and in the final game, won a wall to rally where Dementieva just
missed a drop shot winner, and then nearly smashed the umpire's chair
with her racket in frustration. Sharapova pumped her first and three
points later, the contest was over.
"I was huffing and puffing, but I think I did a good job of playing
defense and offense," said Sharapova, who owns a 5-1 edge over
Petrova, who says she’s never been this fit…It’s
the first time this year that the top four seeds have advanced to the
semis of a Tier II. … Martina Hingis watched
some of the match and said she gives her fiancée, Radek
Stepanek,
a good chance to upset Roger Federer in Montrea. … Novak
Djokovic’s straight set win over Andy Roddick
gave him the early edge as the No. 3 man heading into the USO. If he
takes down Rafa Nadal is the other semi, the Serb could come in at No.
2.
