Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com
Jankovic reached her first Slam final. FROM THE US OPEN – Jelena Jankovic shed the negative aura
that has been surrounding her this summer and busted down Olympic gold
medalist Elena Dementieva 6-4, 6-4 in the US Open semis on Friday. She’ll
meet Serena Williams, who destroyed Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-2 on a very windy
day on Ashe Stadium.
While she spent much of the summer complaining that she was tired and
out of shape post her Wimbledon knee injury (as well as other numerous
2008 injuries and illnesses), Jankovic finally found her spirit at this
tournament and put up a quick-footed defense wall against Dementieva,
out-stroking her from the backhand side, mixing up her forehand and rarely
getting discouraged by massive wind gusts.
While Dementieva was clearly pressing, Jankovic was never filled with
doubt and now she has a shot at Serena in the final, a woman she’s
3-3 against and whom she beat in the Aussie Open quarters, but lost to
in the Miami final.
While Williams will enter the final as the favorite due to her trophy-filled
resume, Jankovic has more than proved she can stay with her form the baseline.
If she steps further inside the white stripes, she could pull off and
upset (and yes, it would be an upset at Slam) and win her first major.
“Mentally, I feel I'm a lot stronger, because I really believe
in myself,” Jankovic said. “I really want to do this, and,
I think it's about time for me to make that step forward to break that
barrier and go a long way. I want to win a Grand Slam, and this is why
I came here. Not having injuries, not having some problems, is giving
me a good opportunity to be here, so I'm really thankful for that. …
So if you want to really win when t[the Williams sisters] are in form,
you really have to be on the top of your level and you really have to
go for every shot and really have to run a lot So it will be difficult,
but it's doable.”
