Bojana Jovanovski clinched her first WTA title at the Baku Cup in Azerbaijan to become the first Serbian women’s tennis player to lift a trophy this season, even though the start of the Olympics was stealing the attention from the International-level tournament.
In the final, the 97th-ranked Jovanovski defeated Julia Cohen 6-3 6-1, who had lost in the qualifying stage of 34 previous WTA events in a row. From 2-2 in the first set, the fifth-seeded Jovanovski lost just two of the next 12 games to win the match. To reach the final Jovanovski beat Lesia Tsurenko in the first round, Valeria Solovieva in the second, compatriot Aleksandra Krunic in the quarters and second seed Alexandra Panova in the semis.
Before the 2012 Baku Cup, Jovanovski’s best results were the 2011 Sydney semifinal and three quarterfinals.
On the opening day of the Olympic Tennis Event, the highest-ranked Serbian player Ana Ivanovic won against Christina McHale 6-4 7-5, while world No.20 Jelena Jankovic lost to Serena Williams 6-3 6-1.
