In contemporary tennis world, personalized sneakers are a must-have. The customization is a symbol of success, but can also minimize confusion in the locker room – Jelena Jankovic won’t accidentally put on Shahar Peer’s tennis shoes any more, since Reebok has customized the gear of both players. Maria Sharapova, of course, isn't legging behind, she has her distinctively designed sneakers as well.

Anyway, if I were a tennis player, I wouldn't have written my name on my gear. I don't like self-centered people in love with their name, their image in a picture, people who promote themselves all the time. Ok, I understand that in tennis it's all part of the industry, but still,… it's kind of cheesy. (Tennis Served Fresh and Tennis Country, thanks for the inspiration)

In a dramatic third round match of the Acura Classic in San Diego, Maria Kirilenko earned the biggest victory of her career with a 6-2, 3-6, 7-5 win over second seed Jelena Jankovic. The Russian, unseeded and ranked 42nd in the world, booked her place in the Friday quarterfinals where she will face ninth seed Elena Dementieva.

World No. 3 Jankovic, however, won’t be losing ranking points since she had been sent home in the third round of the Acura Classic in the past two years. Additionally, despite the loss, the Serb has already qualified for the prestigious Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, together with Justine Henin.

Justine Henin and Jelena Jankovic are the first women to qualify for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, November 6-11. The Belgian and the Serb are currently in first and second place respectively in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships with 3245 and 2990 points each.

Henin, who took the title in Madrid last year, currently leads the WTA Tour, winning five titles so far this season (Dubai Tennis Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates; Qatar Total Open in Doha, Qatar; J&S Cup in Warsaw, Poland; Roland Garros in Paris, France; International Women's Open in Eastbourne, Great Britain), while world number three Jankovic has claimed four titles to date in 2007 (ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand; Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, USA; Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, Italy; and DFS Classic in Birmingham, Great Britain). Read more »

A few days ago Jelena Jankovic appeared at the Hyundai presentation in Belgrade, Serbia, wearing an elegant white dress. The car company has been JJ’s sponsor since April, when they gave her a Hyundai (at the presentation she got another one!).

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You can hardly name a tournament Jelena Jankovic didn’t play in 2007, so if anyone needed a vacation it was her. This summer she went to Marbella, Spain, and spent there one week swimming, jet-skiing, playing golf with friends, and enjoying wonderful beaches.

“The most important thing is that my injury from the Fed Cup in Kosice has been healed. This vacation means very much to me and now I am ready for the new challenges in my professional career,” said the 22-year-old.

After the vacation, Jankovic spent very short time in her home city of Belgrade, and was quickly back in an airplane to fly to the United States where she’ll firstly play the Acura Classic, a Tier I event in San Diego. (source: Blic Online)