Dinara Safina won her first match as world number one by defeating Sara Errani 6-0 6-1 to reach the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Safina, who celebrated her 23rd birthday in Stuttgart on Monday, defeated the 37th ranked Errani in just 51 minutes.
Meanwhile, Jelena Jankovic, whose experiments with fitness regime ruined her game, decided to keep her expectations low: “I won’t be thinking about defending the title here, it’s more important for me to just get back to playing good tennis.”
It’s bizarre and still painful that in Jankovic’s case it would’ve been better if she hadn’t worked at all, than those overly difficult trainings in the wrong direction. However, JJ learned her lesson: “You listen to your team and you think it will bring results. But my body just did not accept it […] I am not doing any more experiments.”
Great news is that the fourth-ranked Serb feels that her game is recovering: “I feel I am coming back into form.”
World No.17 Dominika Cibulkova is awaiting Jelena Jankovic in the first round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
I’m not buying the whole ‘fitness regime ruined my game’ story. She needs to ditch the boyfriend – that’s where her problem is. She’s not focused on the game anymore.
I don’t believe Jelena let her boyfriend affect her game in a bad way. I really think it was the fitness regime, it was more than evident that her body changed and she didn’t feel comfortable with it. Jelena was working really hard despite being in love.
Exercise does not hurt anybody……these are just excuses that JJ has to come up with to explain her atrocious match performances…
She needs to pull up her socks and start concentrating on the game…Its good to have a BF…he is a support system….helps to relax 🙂
Poor guy does not need to get dumped!
Anna
She exercised in the wrong direction, that’s the problem. I don’t think she’s making excuses. And in Jelena’s case, I also think it’s doing her good to have Mladjan as a boyfriend, it’s just my feeling.
Hey Marija,
It’s good to see others sharing their opinions on this one…. but I agree, I think certain exercises can hinder an athlete. Jelena obviously needs speed and stamina, and I think she may have been experimenting with the wrong type of reigme. This may explain her lethargic performances on court
Also, it seems as though she may have been going through some personal difficulties with her mother. Regardless, it’s nice to see her back and playing well again!!
Yes, Jelena said that her mother was very ill and that she was worried. However, there haven’t been updates on her mother’s health for a while.