Jelena Jankovic was badly injured during her exhibition match at the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters and urgently flew back home to Serbia to undergo a surgery.
Playing the quarterfinal against Daniela Hantuchova at the WTA legends exhibition tournament in Luxembourg, Jankovic seriously injured her Achilles tendon and retired while trailing the Slovak player 3-2. The injury happened as Jankovic was running to return Hantuchova’s drop shot.
According to Serbian media, tournament organizers provided a private jet to fly Jankovic to her hometown of Belgrade, as that’s where she wanted to receive medical treatment. Months of recovery are ahead of the former world No.1.
Even though she hasn’t officially retired, Jankovic has been inactive since the 2017 US Open, where she lost in the first round to Petra Kvitova. Explaining the end of her tennis career, Jankovic said: “I was in pain for a year and a half after my match against Kvitova. As time went by, there was no need for me to say anything, I accepted my fate that I can’t compete and play professional tennis.”
Besides Jankovic and Hantuchova, the star-studded line-up at the Luxembourg Ladies Tennis Masters included Kim Clijsters, Agnieszka Radwanska, Martina Hingis, Kiki Bertens, Julia Goerges and Mandy Minella. Kim Clijsters is the champion, as the Belgian defeated Martina Hingis 7-5 6-2 in Sunday’s final. (source: Espreso)
Glad to see she’s still a drama queen, lol.
(joking – I hope she recovers quickly!)