Ana Ivanovic of Serbia was upset 6-2 1-6 6-2 by Austrian Tamira Paszek in the third round of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, which opened the door for Jelena Jankovic to reach the No.1 world ranking.

The 17-year-old Paszek, who I thought would continue her last year's rise this season, won just three matches since the Australian Open and had gone five tournaments without a victory until a first-round win last week in Los Angeles. But now she managed to take out a top-ranked player. Read more »

Serbian tennis stars Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic are the leaders in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships and have secured their participation in that prestigious event.

They currently occupay the first and second place in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, with world No.2 Jankovic having earned 2,770 points and world No.1 Ivanovic 2,761 points.

The season-ending tournament will take place at the Khalifa International Tennis Complex in Doha, Qatar, from November 4-9, 2008. Six more singles players will qualify, as well as top four doubles teams of the season. (via On the Baseline)

Dinara Safina stopped Jelena Jankovic’s quest for No.1 spot defeating the Serb 7-6 6-1 in the East West Bank Classic semifinals. Safina will face Italian Flavia Pennetta in the final.

If top-seeded Jankovic had won the tournament she would have occupied Ana Ivanovic’s No.1 spot in the rankings, but always-injured JJ lost the first set in the tie-break after which Safina quickly took the second set and completed her victory. "In the second set, I couldn't go anymore. My legs were shaking a little," said the world No.2 who entered the LA tournament with a left knee injury.

No.10 seed Pennetta will play her first Tier II final which she reached by overcoming Bethanie Mattek 3-6 6-2 7-5 in the final four. (source: BBC, photos: Getty Images)

Top seed Jelena Jankovic moved into the East West Bank Classic semifinals with an impressive 7-5 6-4 victory over ninth seed Nadia Petrova and will next meet Russia's Dinara Safina, seeded fourth, who crushed Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-1 in her quarterfinal.

Jankovic fought back from breaks down in both sets in the quarterfinal and is now two steps away from taking the No.1 ranking from fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic.

The biggest problem of J.J. are always her injuries, but she said her knee was holding up well and was satisfied with her movement. Despite constant health problems, her game has improved, and I especially like this quote of Petrova: "She's not just running on the baseline anymore, she's serving better and taking the ball earlier and coming forward."

In the other semifinal at the East West Bank Classic seed No.10 Flavia Pennetta, who beat 14th-seeded Sybille Bammer 7-6 3-6 6-1, will encounter unseeded American Bethanie Mattek, who defeated China's Yuan Meng 6-2 7-5. (source: BBC, Getty Images)

Jelena Jankovic remained on course to take over the No.1 ranking from compatriot Ana Ivanovic with a 6-3 6-2 victory over Melinda Czink of Hungary at the East West Bank Classic.

In the match against lucky loser Czink, Jankovic's serve was much better than usual.

"If I could hit this serve every day like that, my life would be so much easier," said J.J., laughing. Read more »