Jelena Jankovic defeated world number three and second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 7-5 6-1 to win the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and join Justin Henin as the only WTA players who have won three tournaments this year. In January, Jankovic took the Tier IV title in Auckland, then the Tier I in Charleston last month, and today another Tier I in Rome.

Today's victory takes the 22-year-old Serb to number 4 in the world. In addition, this trophy, being her second on clay this year, establishes her as one of the favorites for Roland Garros.

As for Kuznetsova, this is the fourth final she lost in 2007. The Russian was also runner-up in Doha, Indian Wells, and Berlin. (source: ESPN)

The third-seeded JJ reached the final of Italian Open by beating Tamira Paszek, Alona Bondarenko, Elena Dementieva, and Patty Schnyder.

After beating Kuznetsova, Jelena was very excited. She said that the victory in Rome means a lot to her; last year, from late January to early May, she hasn't won a single match and she was thinking about quitting tennis!

Third-seeded Jelena Jankovic convincingly beat Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-3 to advance to her first Rome final.

JJ showed a high level of tennis — she moved brilliantly, and with great precision hit the lines and the corners. The Swiss, on the other hand, failed to hold her serve once and had more than 30 unforced errors. Ok, she had some fantastic drop shots and serves, but that wasn't enough to level up her forehand and backhand errors.

"I was expecting a more difficult match," Jelena said afterwards.

To enter the semis the Swiss had a thrilling three set match against Serena Williams, so the Serbian paid tribute to Schnyder saying: "She played unbelievably yesterday and it's really hard to play two days in a row like she did."

JJ's shots were extremely precise, her concentration was on a great level and it's no wonder that she's ranked 5th in the world. On Sunday, the 22-year old will have a chance to fight for her second Tier I title — in mid-April she won the $1,340,000 Family Circle Cup. Her opponent in the final will be either second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova or ninth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova.

If Jelena takes the trophy, she will move up to number four in the world. (source: Internazionali BNL d'Italia official site, BBC Sport)

Internazionali BNL d'Italia is the most prestigious clay-court tournament after Roland Garros. It is a Tier I event with the prize money of $1,340,000.

Amelie Mauresmo of France is seeded at the top. She is the 2004 and 2005 winner, and in 2000, 2001 and 2003 she was in the final. Although world No. 4 has only recently returned to tennis, after a break caused by her appendix operation, she is still one of the favorites to take the trophy.

Second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova hasn't had a very satisfying year — she was a runner-up three times (in Doha, Indian Wells, and last week in Berlin). Still, without doubt, she has a potential to make Rome her first title of 2007.

World No. 5 Jelena Jankovic is definitely in good form. The Serbian has already collected two titles in 2007– Auckland and Charleston. We can expect a lot from her.

Although Serena Williams hasn't played since the Fed Cup first round in April, the 2002 champion, this year seeded 8th, is certainly someone we can't discount. She has been superb this season winning the Australian Open and Sony Ericsson Open. What more can you ask for?

Nadia Petrova of Russia is seeded fifth. She won three consecutive titles on clay last year. Her compatriot Dinara Safina, seeded sixth, reached the final on clay in Charleston, as well as last year in Rome when she was defeated by Martina Hingis.

Other players making up the top 8 seeds are Nicole Vaidisova and Anna Chakvetadze. We expect some good action from them as well.

We should also mention No. 12th seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia who won a tournament in Berlin a few days ago and entered the top 10 for the first time in her career. In Rome's quarterfinals we might have a chance to watch a re-run of Berlin's final with Kuznetsova.

Maria Sharapova and Martina Hingis won't play this year because of injuries, while world No.1 Justine Henin didn't enter. (via Sony Ericsson WTA Tour)

In Berlin quarterfinal Jelena Jankovic continued her tradition of winning the opening set against Justine Henin, and eventually coming out as a loser. So far, they have played five times, and four times Jelena won the first set; still, all the five times she lost the match!

In Saturday's quarterfinal Jelena was so close to victory — in the third set she had a 4-0 lead. Henin seemed disturbed, you could see her watching anxiously at her coach. However, she managed to recover and win six consecutive games to advance to the semis.

"I don't know how that could happen," said the Serbian.

"I thought I had everything under control and I am really upset, I was so close to beating her. It was slippery out there and I didn't feel safe on the court.

"But it was all my own mistake that I lost, I wasted all my chances to win." (Source: BBC Sport)

How often do injured players retire when closer to victory, and how often when they are losing? Which players are more likely to retire, and which stay in match even though they are losing?

Tennis Magazine, who did this research, took into account the top 20 players and calculated the proportion of times they retired when close to losing a match. The aim of their work was to determine which players retire when they see that defeat is near, which, as they believe, tells a lot about a person's attitude. So, matches where a player retired before the completion of the opening set, as well as those when a player withdrew while less than two games behind, were not included.

Some players are more prone to injuries, but you can see that some of them withdraw when they see that they can't win. It's evident that player's retirement affects the opponent as well as spectators. The opponent can't enjoy the victory as much, because things were left unfinished.

One of favorite WTA players, Kim Clijsters, had lots of injuries in her career, but retired while losing only once. Ana Ivanovic, Shahar Peer, Nicole Vaidisova and Martina Hingis have never left the match when behind.

On the other hand, an unbelieveable 11.4 % of Jelena Jankovic's defeats are retirements while losing, which is more than one in every nine losses. Players following Jankovic are Serena Williams and Anna Chakvetadze.

A spokesperson for the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, who saw the results of the research, said: "There is no evidence that WTA Tour players do anything other than compete their very best." However, John Lloyd, British Davis Cup captain and former Australian Open finalist, claims that "really good champions don't feel they're going to lose until the last point, so they never throw in the towel."

I don't really agree with the view that players who are prone to retiring while losing are players with worse attitude and not real champions. It shows a certain part of their character, but it doesn't make them worse people, or worse players. They are simply like that (it's normal to lose interest when you see you have no chance to win), and after all, it's not forbidden to withdraw while behind.

(more at Tennis Magazine website)