Jelena Jankovic

Jelena Jankovic holds the distinction as the only number one ranked player in the world to have never won a Grand Slam event. It is not an indictment however, it merely means that she is one of the most consistent players on tour and in 2008 she proved beyond doubt that her fitness allows her to compete at the highest level in every tournament she enters. She has been number one for the last 12 weeks is and although she has yet to win a Tennis Grand Slam it is abundantly clear that she has the ability to do so. In 2008 she won four titles and was runner up in two others, plus she was runner up to Serena Williams in the US Open. She has a career total of 10 top tier wins on the LTA Tour and has a further twelve runners-up performances. Her other Grand Slam performance’s in 2008 show that she was a semi finalist here, a semi finalist at the French Open and a fourth round loser at Wimbledon.

Jelena is principally a defensive player, known as a counter-puncher in tennis. She is one of the few players who can slide on all surfaces further enhancing her defensive abilities. In 2007 she played more matches than any other ranked player and still maintained her world ranking of third, which again is further testament to her fitness and stamina. She has great ground stroke consistency and has an explosive two handed backhand down the line passing shot.

Her weakness is her serve, she likes to spin it in on both her first and second serves which makes her very attackable, particularly from base line players. She gets broken far more than she needs to and this weakness could prevent her from ever winning consistently.

Her 7/1 price in the Australian Open odds, are very generous considering her number one ranking.