Defending champion Jelena Jankovic, last year's finalist Maria Sharapova, and the 2008 French Open finalist Dinara Safina have all decided to skip the DFS Classic in Birmingham, a Wimbledon warmup event which starts June 9.

World No.3 Jankovic withdrew from the grass-court tournament with the same arm injury that caused her to fly home to Belgrade after losing to Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals of the French Open.

Sharapova, who has won the DFS Classic twice, will skip the event after five consecutive years in the draw in order to be able to focus on Wimbledon better. The Russian world No.1 has also withdrawn from Eastbourne which means she will play no competitive grass-court tennis before Wimbledon.

Safina, ranked 14th in the world, pulled out of Birmingham with a bad back. (sources: ESPN, Reuters; photos: Tennis Channel, Getty Images)

World No.3 Jelena Jankovic, extremely disappointed after losing the 2008 French Open semifinal (and who wouldn’t be), didn’t hide her emotions when talking to the press.

Asked what she would do to get over the defeat, she responded: "Kill myself?"

"No, I will have some dinner and maybe get drunk or do something. I don't know. Whatever makes me feel better."

Jankovic rallied from a set and 3-1 down to lead 3-1 in the deciding set against fellow Serb Ana Ivanovic, but eventually lost the match to the more powerful opponent. Read more »

Last year’s runner-up Ana Ivanovic won a tough battle of the Serbs to advance to her third career Grand Slam final where she'll meet 13th-seeded Russian Dinara Safina who advanced with a victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova. The 20-year-old Ivanovic defeated compatriot Jelena Jankovic 6-4 3-6 6-4 in today's semifinal.

Jankovic started the match strong, taking a 3-0 lead. However, Ivanovic managed to level at 4-4. The 20-year-old Ivanovic earned a crucial break in the ninth game and served out the set. Ivanovic then established a 3-1 lead in the second set, but Jankovic won the next five games to level the match. Jankovic twice led by a break in the decider but Ivanovic stormed back, broke Jankovic in the ninth game and finished the match on her first match point in the next game.

With this victory Ivanovic improved her head-to-head record against Jankovic to 6-1. Oh, it must hurt Jankovic – she missed the opportunity to become the world No.1 and also the first Serb to achieve such a feat, to reach her first Grand Slam final, and to improve her record against her younger colleague.

Ivanovic will rise from No.2 to No.1 in the world, for the first time in her career, when the rankings are updated on Monday. She will overtake Maria Sharapova. (photo via Tennis Channel)

Serbian stars Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic both advanced to the 2008 French Open semifinals and will meet each other in the battle for the championship match.

The last year’s finalist Ivanovic displayed perfect from in her quarterfinal and outclassed Patty Schnyder in straight sets 6-3 6-2. Ivanovic’s game has been in perfect working order throughout the tournament, and she seems more than ready to reach her first Grand Slam title. Read more »

Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova advanced to the fourth round of the French Open with straight-set victories on Saturday. The Serb stayed on course for a first Grand Slam title when she beat Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 7-5 6-3, while the Russian completed her first two-setter at 2008 French Open defeating Italian Karin Knapp 7-6(4) 6-0.

The match between Jankovic and Cibulkova had been halted in fading light on Friday at 7-5 4-2. After the resumption Cibulkova failed to hold her second service game and Jankovic wrapped up the win in an hour and 51 minutes.

As for the match between Sharapova and Knapp, the first set, which lasted 81 minutes, suggested yet another tough encounter for the world No.1 Sharapova in Paris. However, the second set was a complete domination of the Russian and she advanced to the fourth round.

For a place in the quarterfinals third seed Jankovic will face Polish 14th seed Agnieszka Radwanska, and top seed Sharapova will meet compatriot Dinara Safina, seeded 13th. (source: Reuters, photos via Tennis Channel)