During this weekend, Serbia and Slovakia are fighting to stay in the Fed Cup World Group, and after the first day of singles matches the countries are tied at 1-1.

World No.7 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia defeated world No.53 Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 7-6(5) 6-3. The following match featured Slovakian former world No.5 Daniela Hantuchova and Serbian rising star Bojana Jovanovski, currently ranked 117th, and favorite Hantuchova won their first encounter 6-2 6-2.

The match between Jelena Jankovic and Magdalena Rybarikova featured ups and downs of both players, but in the end the Serb won the match despite the wrist injury which has been bothering her since the preparations for the Family Circle Cup in Charleston. Jankovic has always been there for her country, and she absolutely deserves the Fed Cup Heart Award which was handed to her today, during the opening ceremony.

As Serbia’s second best-ranked player Ana Ivanovic wasn’t able to join her team this weekend, Bojana Jovanovski, the hope of Serbian tennis, took the stage against the highest-ranked Slovakian. The 18-year-old Jovanovski gave good resistance to Daniela Hantuchova, even though the 6-2 6-2 result doesn’t show it.

One more thing I should mention: the first day of matches played in Belgrade, Serbia, was very poorly attended, and it’s a pity because players gave their best to make it to the tournament and represent their countries. I have to admit, though, that even I didn’t travel to Belgrade this time, because I have one exam to prepare for my job. However, I supported the girls via TV and the matches were really enjoyable, especially the one between Jovanovski and Hantuchova, even though the one between Jankovic and Rybarikova was more thrilling. (photos: sr_cranks)

Eighth seed Daniela Hantuchova upset second seed Jelena Jankovic 1-6 6-3 6-3 to advance to the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, where she will face fourth seed Samantha Stosur who advanced by beating Peng Shuai 6-4 6-1. Before this quarterfinal match-up on green clay, Hantuchova had won just one of four meetings she had with the 2007 Charleston champion Jankovic.

The world No.7 Jankovic rallied from a set down to win her first match of the tournament, in the second round against Edina Gallovits. The third round against Evgeniya Rodina was much easier for Jankovic, but the former world No.1 succumbed in the quarterfinals to the former world No.5, who hasn’t won a WTA singles title since 2007.

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki is still on a winning streak, and her eighth straight victory came in the Charleston quarterfinal against sixth seed Nadia Petrova. Wozniacki, last year’s runner-up to Sabine Lisicki at the Family Circle Cup, defeated the 2006 Charleston champion Petrova 6-3 6-4. Wozniacki’s opponent in Saturday's semifinal will be the winner of the match between Vera Zvonareva and Melanie Oudin. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

World number nine Jelena Jankovic won her 12th career WTA title and first one in seven months to give a much-needed boost to her confidence and Serbian tennis, which was once blossoming but hadn’t seen a WTA title since Jankovic’s Cincinnati victory in August 2009, and has been hit by the fact that Ana Ivanovic will be kicked out of the Top 50 as of next week.

The sixth-seeded Jankovic comfortably defeated second seed Caroline Wozniacki 6-2 6-4 in the Sunday’s final at the $4,500,000 BNP Paribas Open, and improved her record against the Dane to 4-0.

Wozniacki may have lost the final, but has a good consolation – the 19-year-old will move two spots up the rankings and reach career-high of No.2 on Monday. The runner-up prize money of $350,000 is not bad for healing wounds either. Jankovic, however, earned twice as much – $700,000, and got a glass trophy so heavy she couldn’t even lift it to pose for photographers. As for the Serb’s ranking projection, she is expected to rise to No.8. (photo: Reuters/Danny Moloshok)

World No.9 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia stormed into her 23rd career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, and the first one since last October, with a 6-2 6-4 victory over Samantha Stosur at Indian Wells.

The sixth-seeded Jankovic was two points away from defeat in the third round against unseeded Sara Errani, but hasn’t really been troubled since, cruising past Shahar Peer, Alisa Kleybanova, and now Samantha Stosur to reach the final. In the semifinal against the eighth-seeded Stosur, Jankovic broke the Australian twice in each set and benefited from her opponent’s 36 unforced errors and four double faults.

Despite the loss, the world No.11 Stosur has nothing to be sad about – she can be proud of playing the semifinals of a Premier-level tournament and will move into the Top 10 for the first time when the new rankings are released on Monday.

Jankovic’s opponent in the final will be either Caroline Wozniacki or Agnieszka Radwanska. None of the two has ever defeated Jankovic. (photo: Upali Wickramasinghe)

World number nine Jelena Jankovic reached her first semifinal of the season by beating Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 6-4 in the quarterfinals of the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells.

The sixth-seeded Serb, a semifinalist at Indian Wells two years ago, won four straight games to come back from 2-4 down in the second set and win the error-strewn quarterfinal against the 23rd-seeded Russian. Jankovic made 21 unforced errors, while Kleybanova piled up a total of 40. However, the Russian was better in the number of winners, hitting 19 compared to Jankovic’s seven.

The 20-year-old Kleybanova was coming off her maiden WTA title at the Malaysian Open last month, and Jankovic ended her eight-match winning streak.

Jankovic’s semifinal opponent will be the winner of the Samantha Stosur vs. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez match. The other two already known semifinalists are good friends Caroline Wozniacki and Agnieszka Radwanska. (photo by our reader Colleen)

Seed No.14 Kim Clijsters and third seed Victoria Azarenka made premature exits at the BNP Paribas Open, while sixth seed Jelena Jankovic fought her way into the fourth round.

Two-time Indian Wells champion Kim Clijsters lost to Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) in the third round, despite storming through the second set and having a 4-0 lead in the third-set tiebreak.

"I definitely think I let it slip away but credit to her," said Clijsters after losing to the No.23 seed. "She played some really good points to get back into it."

Victoria Azarenka fell to 28th-seeded Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 7-6(4) 6-2 at the very tournament that propelled her into the Top 10 last year. The Belorussian quickly fell behind 5-1 and even though she saved four set points and leveled to 5-5, she lost the first set and shortly after the second as well.

Sixth-seeded Jelena Jankovic beat Sara Errani 2-6 7-6(6) 6-4 despite making 57 unforced errors compared to Errani's 42. The world No.9 quickly lost the first set, won the second in a tiebreak, and let her experience prevail in the decider of the marathon match to prevent Errani from scoring her first Top-10 victory in 12 attempts. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic suffered an upset in the opening round of the $220,000 Monterrey Open in Mexico, falling to world No.72 Anastasija Sevastova in their first encounter.

The ninth-ranked Jankovic saved set point down 5-4 to take the first set, but wasted a 3-1 lead in the second set and 4-2 in the third to eventually lose to Latvia’s only Top 500 player 5-7 6-4 6-4.

The 19-year-old Sevastova has now scored her first Top 10 victory. Before, she had faced two Top 10 players, Svetlana Kuznetsova at the 2009 US Open and Agnieszka Radwanska at Dubai this year, but lost to both.

Jankovic has played four events so far in 2010 and is yet to reach a quarterfinal. (source: Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Serbia’s world No.9 Jelena Jankovic celebrated her 25th birthday on February 28th in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jankovic received a wildcard for the $220,000 Monterrey Open and is about to play her first-round match against Anastasija Sevastova, ranked 72th in the world.

The top-seeded Serb is the only Top 10 player in Mexico, as the others took some time to rest for the next week’s big event in Indian Wells. Second seed at the Monterrey Open is 24th-ranked Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia, also a wildcard. (photos via Great Tennis Photos)