Second seed Jelena Jankovic beat fourth seed Dinara Safina 6-2, 6-2 in Sunday final of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. This is the first Tier I final for Jankovic, and her biggest victory so far.
Strong wind made this match difficult for both players. “The wind was so strong and the balls were going all over the place,” Jankovic said after the match. Her opponent agreed: “It was so windy that it was tough to play our game. It was going everywhere. It was difficult to serve, like you’re tossing the ball, and the ball just goes … flying in front or like, wherever.”
The Serbian reached the final by defeating Venus Williams 3-6, 6-3, 7-6(5) in a long and uncertain match. The Russian player had an easier way to the final; her semifinal opponent, Vera Zvonareva, retired because of wrist injury, while her opponent in the quarterfinal, Tatiana Golovin, withdraw at the end of the first set due to injured ankle.
Today, Both Jankovic and Safina jumped two spots at the WTA rankings. Jankovic was world No.9 and today she is No.7. One year younger Dinara Safina moved from No.12 to No.10.
With this title Jankovic accompanies Serena Williams and Justine Henin as players who have won two titles in 2007. Serena won the Australian Open and the Sony Ericsson Open; Justine has titles from Dubai Duty Free Women’s Open and Qatar Total Open. Jelena won Auckland in January and now she has Charleston trophy too.
