No Slam, But Steady Jankovic Out To Put The Icing On A Grand Year

The Age

Tuesday November 4, 2008

LINDA PEARCE DOHA, QATAR, With AAP

REGARDLESS of what happens when this parched and patriarchal nation on the shores of the Persian Gulf hosts the final tournament of the women's tennis season, Jelena Jankovic will finish at No.1 without having won a grand slam tournament.

Blame the system. Sentence the computer to 30 lashes. Then acknowledge the steady and consistent quality of Jankovic's play as well as its quantity.

Former doubles champion Pam Shriver is among those who believe 2008 will be remembered as the year the No.1 retired, rather than the year Justine Henin's successor emphatically seized the throne.

The vacancy created in May by Henin's departure was filled by Maria Sharapova, Ana Ivanovic, Sharapova, Serena Williams and now Jankovic, who had a single-week stay at the summit in August, then returned during a golden three-title run in October for a stint that will continue into 2009.

"It's a huge compliment," Jankovic said at Sunday's draw for the Sony Ericsson WTA Championships. "I'm so excited about finishing the year as the No.1 player in the world and hopefully I can play well here and have a good tournament and finish the year even better."

If there has been no standout performer, and four different major winners in a time of unprecedented instability at the top, the no-slam qualification can be the only real quibble over the worthiness of Jankovic, who, as multiple major winner Tracy Austin has pointed out, is "playing by the rules", regardless of how many big titles she has - or, well, has not - won.

Since January, the 23-year-old has reached her first major final (losing to Serena at the US Open) and two semi-finals (Australian and French Opens), won more matches (63) than any other player and as many titles (four), while losing before the quarter-final stage only twice in 21 tournaments.

Success this week would be richly rewarding for the Serb. The championships start today in Doha - a slightly controversial choice of venue, explained largely by a $US42million ($63million) three-year deal - after recent stints in Madrid and Los Angeles. While the trophy named for women's pioneer Billie Jean King does not carry grand-slam weight, there is considerable prestige to be gained as well as a record $US4.45million ($6.67million) total purse, pay parity for the first time with the men's event in Shanghai the following week.

Even without Sharapova, who lost a memorable championships final to Henin in Madrid last year and has been sidelined with a shoulder injury since August, Russia has provided half the eight-woman singles field - most notably world No.2 Dinara Safina, and Olympic gold medallist Elena Dementieva - while Serbia and the Williams family have contributed a quarter each.

Australian veteran Rennae Stubbs will make her 13th appearance at the championships, partnering Kveta Peschke in the four-team doubles. Both finals will be played on Sunday.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, serving strongly, has scored a "home" win at the Paris Masters, earning a start at the Masters Cup in Shanghai.

The 23-year-old from Le Mans, who burst on the world stage in January by reaching the Australian Open final, defeated titleholder David Nalbandian of Argentina 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. -- With AAP

© 2008 The Age

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