I sometimes think that a win over Justine Henin would be a greater career achievement for Jelena Jankovic than a Grand Slam title. Both are former world No.1s, but Jankovic has an embarrassing 0-10 record against Henin.

Jankovic was close to defeating Henin many times. They have played six three-setters so far, including today in the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix quarterfinals, but Jankovic never had the nerve or that important something to go all the way. Moreover, out of those six matches played in three sets, Jankovic won the first set five times, which was the case today as well.

The two hadn’t met since the 2007 Sony Ericsson Championships and today’s quarterfinal in Stuttgart was interesting because it was their first encounter since Henin came out of retirement. As many times before, things started well for the fourth-seeded Jankovic and she took the first set 6-3. In the second set Henin hit 24 unforced errors to Jankovic’s 11, but the Belgian wildcard had 24 winners compared to Jankovic’s 8. Nevertheless, Jankovic had a chance to win the set, as she lost only in the tiebreak which ended with the score 7-4. In the third set Jankovic came back from 0-2 to lead 3-2, but then the beginning of her end started and she finally lost the match 3-6 7-6(4) 6-3.

Henin’s opponent in the semifinals will be Shahar Peer of Israel, who advanced with a 6-3 6-2 victory over rusty Dinara Safina, seeded second. (photo: sr_cranks)

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)