Serbian tennis was struck by tragedy on Friday night, as former WTA player and Fed Cup captain Tatjana Jecmenica died at the age of 47 in a fatal car crash near Belgrade.
Jecmenica was born in Novi Sad, the same city as tennis legend Monica Seles. During her professional career, she won six ITF singles titles and three ITF doubles titles. She did not capture a WTA title. Jecmenica competed at all four Grand Slam tournaments, with her best result coming at the 1995 US Open and 1996 French Open, where she reached the second round. Her career-high WTA rankings were No. 72 in singles and No. 88 in doubles, both achieved in 1996. She was also a member of the Yugoslav Fed Cup team.
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From 2014 to 2020, she served as captain of Serbia’s Fed Cup team. This marked her second stint in the role, having previously led the national side from 2005 to 2007. “If I have to persuade Jelena (Jankovic) one moment and Ana (Ivanovic) the next just to get them to play, and they still hesitate, then to hell with that job,” she said while resigning in 2007.
According to Serbian media, Jecmenica’s car crashed with a truck on a highway just outside of Belgrade. Jecmenica was pronounced dead at the scene, while her husband was left in critical condition and placed in an induced coma, suffering life-threatening injuries.
