ANTA reveals French Open dress for Jankovic

Earlier this year, leading Chinese sportswear brand, ANTA, announced it had secured one of the biggest deals in women’s tennis by signing Jelena Jankovic to exclusively wear their sports apparel, shoes and accessories world-wide.

With the French Open getting underway, here’s the ANTA dress JJ will be wearing as she goes for her first major at Roland Garros. The blue color should pop nicely against the backdrop of red clay.

Look for a possible quarterfinal match in Paris between No. 4 Elena Dementieva vs. No. 5 Jelena Jankovic. You can check the Women’s Singles Main Draw here.

Coinciding with the French Open, the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival is taking place and JJ attended the amfAR Cinema Against AIDS 2009 benefit at the Hotel du Cap.

For more JJ photos in Cannes, check out Great Tennis Photos

AO Update: No. 5 Ivanovic ousted in third round

Fortunes change quickly in tennis. Last year’s French Open champion and, for a time, No. 1 ranked player, Ana Ivanovic’s hopes of a return trip to the Australian Open final fell apart in a barrage of mistakes Friday as Russia’s Alisa Kleybanova ousted the 2008 runner-up with a 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-2 victory in the third round.

After the match, Kleybanova, who reached the fourth round at Wimbledon last year in her third Grand Slam and is seeded 29th, dropped to her knees in disbelief.

Ivanovic, with her 50 unforced errors, became the second top women’s seed (after Venus Williams) to bow out of the tournament.

Meanwhile Jelena Dokic  pulled off the latest of her Australian Open upsets against Caroline Wozniacki, the 18-year-old from Denmark and No. 11 seed, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2.

World number one Jelena Jankovic, wearing new threads by ANTA, ground out another tough win to reach fourth round Friday. She beat Japan’s Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 6-4 but for the second time in the tournament struggled to land a killer blow against an opponent who, on paper, should have been easy pickings for the top seed.

Jelena Jankovic signs with Chinese sports brand ANTA

January 18, 2009 – World number one Jelena Jankovic will wear a new clothing brand when she steps onto the court at the Australian Open on Monday.

Leading Chinese sportswear brand, ANTA, announced it has secured one of the biggest deals in women’s tennis by signing Jankovic to exclusively wear their sports apparel, shoes and accessories world-wide.

The partnership with Jankovic marks a historic deal. ANTA is the first Chinese sports brand to align with a world number one female tennis player as part of their vision to grow its presence in tennis.

The ANTA design team from the US and Japan has worked closely with Jelena to develop a Jelena Jankovic range of sports products under the JJ brand. The range reflects the style, fashion and beauty of Jelena Jankovic while offering the performance required by the number one tennis player in the world.

“The recent success of the Beijing Olympics has firmly established China’s reputation as a world power in sport,” Jankovic said in ANTA’s official announcement. “I feel very honoured to be forming a partnership with the leading Chinese sports brand ANTA. I am delighted with the JJ range of products we have developed and I look forward to working with ANTA to promote the development of tennis and the ANTA brand world-wide.”

ANTA Sports Products primarily designs, develops, manufactures and markets sportswear, including sports footwear, apparel and accessories.

Jankovic will showcase the JJ range of ANTA sportswear at the Australian Open at Melbourne Park which starts tomorrow.