Will Jankovic now make the No.1 spot her own?

With Jelena’s win in Stuttgart backing up her win in China a week earlier, she will now take on the role as women’s world number one. This form has now begged the question: Is Jankovic the long term answer as the No.1 women’s player?

The women’s game is in desperate disorder at the moment in its search for a figure head, after Justine Henin's shock departure from the game last May. Many players have touched the summit, including; Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic and recently Serena Williams, however none have been able to grasp it. Jelena Jankovic will now regain the responsibility of the women’s game once again after a brief spell at the top before the US Open.

There have been many twists in this year’s race for No.1 after Justine Henin’s dominance came to an abrupt end as she retired with immediate effect in the spring, much to the shock of the sporting world. Then suddenly the limelight was on Maria Sharapova who stepped into the role. At the beginning of the year she looked to be back to her sublime best winning in the Melbourne sunshine to claim her third slam of her career. However a niggling shoulder injury hindered her game for the rest of the season and now lies sixth in the race. Next it was Ana Ivanovic’s turn to capture the world and not just in a tennis sense. She has the looks, the personality, the game and the winning mentality to become the WTA’s saviour. And after winning the French in style all was looking rosy for the Serb as number one, although perhaps the pressure and the attention began getting to Ana, as she suddenly started hitting bad form, being dumped out of the early stages of both Wimbledon and the US Open. The next half of the year saw the resurgent’s of the Williams sisters who got back to their powerful best, sweeping aside any challengers at Wimbledon to face each other in the final. But even though Venus got on top that time it was Serena who began to look as if she could begin dominating again winning the US Open and looking in good shape. However in the midst of all this chopping and changing, it may be the consistent Jelena Jankovic who will finish top of the class at the end of 2008. She has somewhat been the dark horse in this race, as she has quietly gone about her business, with solid performances in all the slams, whilst picking up many tour titles along the way, demonstrating that she is very much a strong contender for No.1.

Jankovic has undoubtedly got the ability to hold the top spot; the problem is that unlike Maria, Ana and Serena she has not yet got her name on a slam title. This has been her downfall in her young career, but having reached the semi finals in three out of the fours slams and recently got to her first final in this year’s US Open, the Serbian nation and the tennis world are sure that it will not be long until she captures that allusive slam.

Her performances in recent weeks have not just given her a flash red Porsche after winning the Stuttgart Porsche Grand Prix but also given her an edge in the WTA rankings with over a 600 points advantage over nearest rival Serena Williams. And now with Serena pulling out of next week’s Kremlin Cup in Moscow with an ankle injury there is a serious opportunity for Jelena to drive on even further and make the number one spot her own.

By Geoff Berkeley