Jankovic sets sights on Dubai win

Jelena Jankovic will be hoping to kick-start her season when she joins eight of the top 10 women competing in the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships next week.

The Serbian former world number one and US Open finalist had to undergo eye surgery late last year with the result that she was unable to properly prepare for her tour Down Under. Now she is raring to go and is more than ready to challenge the best players in the world, including world number one Caroline Wozniacki, French Open winner Francesca Schiavone and Australian Open runner-up Li Na at the Dubai Tennis Stadium from February 14.

“I had something removed in my left eye,” she revealed on her website. “I was having problems seeing clearly, especially in night matches, so I had surgery. There was a patch on it so I kind of looked like a pirate for a while! The whole time I had to wear sunglasses, so I actually looked cool. I even had to wear them in the dark. To protect it from the wind, the cold. My only wish now for the new season is to be healthy and avoid injuries, so I can truly work on my game and enjoy my tennis. When something is bothering you, it’s hard to do your job in a proper way,” added the 25-year-old Serb.

“Jelena Jankovic has been one of the most talented players on the WTA tour for a number of years, and she is a familiar face at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships where she is returning for the seventh straight year,” said Colm McLoughlin, managing director of tournament owners and organisers Dubai Duty

Free. “She has proved many times that she can beat all the best players in the world, and we look forward to seeing how she fares this time against such a stellar field,” he added.

Jankovic is not only one of the great characters of the WTA tour, she is one of the toughest to beat. She never gives up until the final ball has been hit, and that battling spirit has served her well in Dubai. She went all the way to the final upon her debut here in 2005 before she fell to world number one Lindsay Davenport in three tight sets, and since then she has gone on to reach two more semi-finals.

It is little wonder she loves Dubai so much that she has joined Roger Federer in establishing a home here. Away from Dubai she also has an impressive record, having claimed wins over opponents such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Samantha Stosur, Venus Williams, Li Na, Francesca Schiavone, Serena Williams, Elena Dementieva and Kim Clijsters.