Jelena Jankovic Makes her Mark in Charleston

When you look back at the prestigious list of Family Circle Cup champions, you quickly realize that many superstar players have either launched their careers from success at this event or used it as a spring board to stunning victories throughout the clay court season. A shining example of this is Steffi Graf who began her domination of women’s tennis in 1986 after capturing the Family Circle Cup title in Hilton Head. Another case in point is Justine Henin who won the French Open twice after capturing this title (2003 & 2005) and notched her third victory at Roland Garros after a run to the semifinals here in 2006. That same year, Nadia Petrova reached her career-high No. 3 ranking soon after winning Charleston.

Each year, as April approaches, the world waits in anticipation of the clay court season that kicks off with the American swing that often produces a champion whose success continues through the year’s second Grand Slam event in Paris. This year was no different where, in retrospect, Jelena Jankovic seemed destined to capture the Family Circle Cup title and mark her mark on professional tennis from the beginning of the most fruitful year of her career. She began the 2007 season as the world’s No. 11 player and quickly constructed a phenomenal Australian hard court swing where she posted a spectacular 12-2 record on her way to her second career Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title at Auckland. She extended her winning streak to nine matches by reaching the Sydney final where she nearly won a nail biting 3-set match against No.3 seeded Kim Clijsters. The following week, Jankovic made a strong run at the Australian Open where she reached the fourth round squaring off against eventual champion Serena Williams and propelling her to a new career high ranking of No. 10, marking her Top 10 debut and becoming the first Serbian player to reach this elite level. This new ranking was the beginning of what must have been a thrilling week for Jankovic as she formally entered the Family Circle Cup and enjoyed her 22nd birthday. Jankovic used this excitement to fuel her success as she reached the quarterfinals or better at her next three events (Tokyo, Dubai, and Doha), marked a number of victories during the American hard court series, then reached the quarterfinals at Amelia Island the week before traveling north to Daniel Island.

No stranger to Charleston’s green dirt, Jankovic made her fourth appearance at the Family Circle Cup ranked at a career-high No. 9 where she entered the deep player field as the No. 2 carrying a 23 – 8 record in 2007. Jankovic had not been successful at this event in the past with early round losses to Lindsay Davenport and Justine Henin contributing to a 1-3 record at Charleston, but 2007 would certainly prove to be her year. She enjoyed good draw placement where she handily dismissed two lower seeded players en route to a semifinal showdown with Venus Williams that played out in front of America on ESPN2.

The two-and-a-half-hour match pitted two of the hardest hitting baseliners in the game against each other on slow green clay that lengthened the rallies and gave the crowd and television audience at home memories sure to last a lifetime. Williams was on top of her game in the first of three sets, which she handily won with the assistance of her trusty first serve and strong return game. Jankovic turned the tables in the second set by earning four breaks as she neutralized Williams’ serve and supplemented her ground attack with vicious cross court angles that kept Williams out of proper ball striking position. With a spectacular serving display of her own, Jankovic allowed only one break in the third set of this classic slugfest as both players elevated their ground attacks. As the balance of the match swayed back and forth, the crowd, as if communicating to the competitors that it wanted to see as much top notch tennis as possible, came alive in support of whichever player got behind even slightly. Throughout the thrilling tiebreaker, both players seemed to draw power from the hot midday sun and the incredible energy of the near capacity crowd who poured in from all over the grounds to witness the match. Jankovic was victorious by only a two point margin, but the true winners were the fans who witnessed one of the greatest matches in the history of this storied event. At two hours and 31 minutes, Jankovic's semifinal victory over Venus Williams was longer than her first three rounds combined (she won her prior matches in a combined two hour and 18 minute time span).

A morning of thunderstorm and tornado watches on Daniel Island yielded to periods of sunshine that poked through prior to the championship showdown between Jankovic and No. 4 seeded Dinara Safina, but play was still difficult at best under high winds as warm-ups began. As Cliff Drysdale explained to the television audience at home, the high winds were constantly changing direction as both players struggled to adapt to the 30 mph sustained winds and powerful 55 mph gusts that wreaked havoc with ball tosses and ground strokes. Amazingly, Jankovic was able to focus as she marked an incredible 95% first service percentage in the initial set, and 84% throughout the match. In front of a nearly record setting week-long crowd, Safina screamed up at the threatening skies as she struggled with the wind, and seemed to unravel as Jankovic cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in just over an hour on Family Circle Magazine Stadium.

“Well, it was difficult to play the game, definitely, from the beginning of the match,” said Safina. “But I think I was a little bit trying on myself, you know, like I was struggling with the weather, but it was the same for her, so I think she was able to handle it better than me. And I think I was giving too many free points. I mean even with this weather you have to make someone play, you know. I was just giving too many easy points.”

“It's really an amazing feel,” said an elated Jankovic. “I'm so happy that I won this title. It's my first Tier I title. And it's been great. I had an awesome week here, especially playing yesterday, beating Venus, and today in the final was a little bit different story because of the weather. It was really windy and tough circumstances, but I gave my best, and I'm the champion.”

With the Tier I Family Circle Cup trophy in hand, Jankovic notched the third and most impressive Sony Ericsson WTA Tour title of her career. She improved to a 3-5 lifetime record in singles finals, and rose from No. 9 to a new career-high of World No. 7 with this victory, and also became the first female from Serbia to surpass $2 million in career prize money earnings.

View a photo gallery of 2007 Champion Jelena Jankovic in action!  

                     
Photo (L-R): Murphy Jensen, Ball Girl, Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Mayor, City of Charleston, Nancy Weber, Chief Marketing Officer, Meredith Corporation, Dinara Safina, 2007 Family Circle Cup Finalist, James T. Carr, Vice President / Group Publisher, Family Circle, Jelena Jankovic, 2007 Family Circle Cup Champion, Mark Sanford, Governor, State of South Carolina, Ball Boy.
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Yan, Zheng wrap up doubles title

BY CHARLES BENNETT
Monday, April 16, 2007 - The Post and Courier

In an all-China final, Zi Yan and Jie Zheng defeated Shuai Peng and Tiantian Sun 7-5, 6-0 to win the Family Circle Cup doubles championship Sunday on stadium court, but it was more a matter of surviving the elements.

Gusting winds and dropping temperatures made conditions nearly unplayable.

"It was very tough to play," Yan said. "Very big winds. Our bodies hurt. We tried to do the best that we can do."

Winds kicked up clay dust, which got in the players' eyes. A consistent ball toss on serves was nearly impossible and play had to be halted briefly on numerous occasions while to clear off debris blowing onto the court.

Twice during play, the heavy wooden sign in one corner of the stadium court that read "Charleston, South Carolina" blew over, sending flower pots crashing to the court.

Somehow, Yan and Zheng played on, and despite the windy conditions only committed two double faults in the match.

They trailed 5-4 in the first set but reeled off three straight games to take the set.

That, and the windy conditions, seemed to take the fight out of their opponents and Yan and Zheng coasted home unchallenged in the second set before a rapidly dwindling stadium court crowd.

Interestingly, it was only the second straight-set match for the No. 3-seeded doubles team of Yan and Zheng in the tournament.

They defeated Patty Schnyder and Corina Morariu 6-2, 6-7 (8), 6-1, in their opening match and the team of Alicia Molik and Mara Santangelo 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 and made the finals with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over the No. 2-seeded team of Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

"We've been playing together a long time," Yan said. "I thought we played very well in this tournament."


*Reach Charles Bennett at cbennett@postandcourier.com