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Roddick v. Safin: extroverts ready to roar

Continued

Anne-Marie Stark

She might not want the pressure but Jelena Jankovic is one of the top prospects in Melbourne.

JANKOVIC WON'T CHOKE
Is Jelena Jankovic's hot streak just a mirage, or is she a Top-4 contender in Melbourne. It's hard to say, because physically and technically, she's already a Top-5 player, but mentally, she's flighty. She doesn't want to be called a favorite at the Australian Open because she doesn't want to put too much pressure on herself. But outside of the terrific threesome of Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters, no other player with a realistic shot at the title comes quickly to mind.

But Jankovic has glued her face to the marquee, because to open the season, she ran through the Hobart field and then took down Martina Hingis and Amelie Mauresmo to reach the Sydney final, where she held a match point against Clijsters but fell 4-6, 7-6(1), 6-4.

On Tuesday, Clijsters called Jankovic a tournament favorite, possibly to deflect attention off herself, but it wasn't a complete stretch, given that when the Serb is touching her knees to the grounds and whaling ground strokes, she's hard to push backward.

Plus, she says that she won't choke like she did against Justine Henin-Hardenne in the semis of the US Open, when she let go of a set and 4-2 lead and had a point for 5-2 and totally imploded. "That was my first time in the semifinals of the US Open and I was a little too excited," she said. "I was thinking I was already in the final and I let the chance slip away. Now I can focus on points better."

Why she thought she was going to win is an open question, given that the Belgian is a far more accomplished big-match player than she is.

"If you don't think you are going to win in those situations, then you are never going to win," she said. "I was really dominating. I felt I was the No. 2 player and I was No. 17 then. Mentally and physically, I was dominating. [But] I think I can handle this situations a lot better. Now I've been in those situations before."

Ranked No. 11, Jankovic is in a great section of the bottom half of the draw, away from the Sharapova and Clijsters, which is a good thing, because the Belgian is one of the few players who really has her number. "It would have been a great win but I'm not disappointed because we really both played a great match, one of the best I ever played, even though I lost," she said of the Sydney final, where she held a match point. "There were some great points and both of us were fighting. I was one point to win the match, but it didn't happen. But that's tennis."

No, that's Clijsters ability to defend a little better than her. On Wednesday, Jankovic handily took care of the veteran Virginia Ruano Pascual in straight sets. She'll face up and comer Victoria Azarenka in the next round, which could be worrisome, as the former junior star is quite a slugger.

But Jankovic is a long way from the first half of last year, when she couldn't win a match and was depressed about the state of her game. It took her a few months to redevelop her love for the sport, but once she did, she soared up the charts.

Jankovic is continuing her studies, although now that she's winning a lot and her mind is focused more on tennis, her progress has slowed. But, her goal is to graduate from college an,d should she manage it while on tour, she'll be one of the first top players to do so.

That long face she showed early last summer while discussing how much more stimulating her course work was than her career was has disappeared and she's smiling more when discussing yellowball material.

"That was amazing," she said. "It made me a lot stronger. I'm working a lot harder now and practiced hard in the off season. I have a lot of motivation to do well and I'm hungry to compete and that's what I lacked."

Ron Cioffi/TR

Ashley Harkleroad wonders how long she can afford to be a Top-100 player.

HARKLEROAD TALKS ABOUT DIVORCE
Georgia native Ashley Harkleroad won a match on Wednesday and, in a piece I wrote for usta.com, she discussed her new Malibu, Calif. digs, road cycling, her new found love of the net and her perspective on her career.

But here's some more on the end of the 21-year-old's marriage last fall to fellow player, Alex Bogamolov.

"You shouldn't be stressed out about marriage and I don't think he should be either. We were too young. That's what they do in Georgia, get married at 19 and start having babies," she said with a laugh. "It was fun and we tried to make it work. It was a little crazy. I can be a little crazy. I did what I thought I needed to do at the time and at the time it seemed right, but life goes on. I just said enough is enough. When you are both playing, you are all over the world it doesn't work. I don't like to be alone really, but it had to be me being there for him, or me for him and it was too much. Honestly, I don't think he could focus on his tennis with me and I know for a fact that he will be better off."

In an interview with Steve Pratt on this website last November, Bogey agreed that he's better off.
Ranked No. 88, "Pebbles" doesn't know how long she'll keep playing. But she won't go broke doing it.

"I'm definitely in it for the next two to three years, but it's about making money," she said. "If you are not Top 50, you are still not making money. I'm lucky because I have some contracts and I'm making some money, but if you are out here five or six years and you still not making money, it's ridiculous to be breaking even. That might sound a little cynical, but it's the truth. If it looks like a downhill road for me, I'll have to make some decision. I'm sure I'll be fine with whatever I do."

PETROVA'S MANY MOVES
Now another promo: On a piece I wrote for foxpsorts.com, Nadia Petrova really went after Serena Williams, saying that she essentially has passed it as a player. The two will play in the third round. Petrova's ever-evolving coaching situation seems straightened out – she's brought two coaches to Melbourne with her – Tatiana Matokhniuk, whom she worked with as a junior, and Lars Wahlgren – and a trainer. She's approaching a Navratilova-sized entourage. "Now all I need is to bring along a couple of dogs," she joked.

Her experiment with living in Moscow again is over. The nomadic Russian has moved to Cyprus (she loves the food, the environment and the people), where Matokhniuk runs a club. When asked whether she was following Marcos Baghdatis, she said, "Maybe, he's single now, right?"

Believe it or not, the Russian won't be there long … she'll be moving to Monaco sometime this year. Busy and cold Moscow wasn't for her. She says that she lost a little confidence in her Russian tongue and, amazingly, is more comfortable starting conversations in English than in her native tongue. Remember though, that she also lived in Egypt and Amsterdam. She'll also play doubles full-time with Svetlana Kuznetzova this year.

ALSO READ CRONIN ON PETROVA V. SERENA ON FOXSPORTS.COM, AND ON HARKLEROAD ON USTA.COM.

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