Jankovic, Dementieva out of Indian Wells, Ivanovic advances

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Wilson Blade 9

Jelena JankovicJelena Jankovic’s bad results are becoming worrying. We know she’s struggling to bring her form back, but this latest second-round loss at the BNP Paribas Open is only deepening the despair.

The second-seeded Jankovic was upset by young Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-4 6-4. The 17-year-old Pavlyuchenkova, ranked 42th in the world, scored her first Top 10 victory.

“Last year I finished No.1 in the world and I was playing great tennis, especially at the end of the year. This year I’m not the same player,” Jankovic said. “I’m struggling to find my game and the confidence on the court. She played well. Obviously she was the better player. But I’m not at my level.”

Third seed Elena Dementieva was also stunned, but her loss is much less worrying than Jankovic’s. Dementieva has won two WTA titles this year and overall has been amazing in 2009, so we can understand her tiredness.

Dementieva was erratic and hit 14 double faults before falling to qualifier Petra Cetkovska 7-6(2) 2-6 6-1 in the second round of Indian Wells.

“That was probably my worst match in a long time,” Dementieva said. “Every time you lose you’re trying to learn something. I feel I shouldn’t have come here because I played a lot of matches at the beginning of the year, and I probably needed more time off to recover.

Ana Ivanovic didn’t suffer the same faith as Jankovic and Dementieva. After losing the first three games of the match, the fifth seed won 12 of the next 16 games and beat Belarusian qualifier Anastasiya Yakimova, 6-4 6-3. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

16 COMMENTS

  1. Jelena needs to pull up her socks now…..she played BADDD tennis….I am tired of her excuses……if she loses…she should appreciate the winner! Her game is not good. and her 0n-court coverage has been atrocious this year…!
    Good Luck on your next tournament JJ.

  2. I actually haven’t seen that much of JJ this year, but what I have seen has been atrocious! She’s such a good player though that it would be unusual if she didn’t bounce back from this. It’s also great to see that Ana is playing well again.

  3. Jelena’s going through a big crisis right now, her game lost the features it was founded on.

    I hope she’ll once again manage to overcome the difficulties. I believe she’s strong enough, after all, she had been on the verge of quitting tennis, and not so long after, she became the No.1 player in the world.

    I’m very sorry that the hard work she was doing in the end ruined her game. What an irony.

  4. Her dresses aren’t as nice as last year’s either! These ones look like skimpy nighties! Poor JJ

  5. Jelena seemed very troubled in her press conference. I hope this is no more than a small dip in form.

    Confidenc is a big thing at this level, so hopefully a couple of good wins will see her back where she belongs.

  6. Oh, I’m afraid it’s not just a small dip in form. I hope Jelena will have the strength and knowledge to overcome the problems she’s having.

  7. She seems burntout has played a lot of tennis for the past two years,a slump was waiting to happen.
    She could be having boyfriend problems or she just wants to relax now that she secured a clothing deal by the way the clothes look very cheap.
    Her mother is nowhere to be seen these days since she signed with Anta…

  8. Flyto, I doubt the reasons you stated are real reasons for Jelena’s slump. I believe it’s her new body, and those major changes she’s going through. In this case I don’t believe it’s boyfriend troubles or a burnout (she’s been more motivated than ever).

    Her Anta clothes aren’t my favorites either, but it’s not that her mother’s nowhere to be seen since Jelena’s been with Anta. For instance, I saw her mother at the Fed Cup here in Serbia.

  9. Who was the genius that told JJ to bulk up? Muscle weighs more than fat. She must have gain too much muscle in little time; also it did not help her game, her serve is not more powerful nor are her ground strokes. She might have gain muscle in the wrong places. She can thank her physical trainer for this. It will take a her sometime to adjust to her body. JJ says she lost reaction, in other words she lost reflexes. A person loses reflexes when they get older. I don’t buy her excuse, she must be distracted or burn out. I agree with Fyuto she played a lot of tennis in the past year and it finally caught up with her.

  10. Jelena’s changed training regime didn’t work for her at all, and even ruined her game, that’s why she’ll start working with a new fitness coach. I don’t think that she’s distracted or burnt out at all.

  11. Ms. Marija JJ admitted that her reaction is slower, if she is not distracted or burnout are you saying that she got old and that the game of tennis has passed her by? You and I both agree that her previous physical training was a catastrophe, I’m sure that this affected her mentally as well. JJ needs rest, also, instead of hitting the gym she needs to do track work outs (from 50 meters to 800 meters), this will help her with her speed and stamina.

  12. I’m not saying she got old, but she’s distracted by her new body which changed her game and that affected her confidence too.

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