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

Smile Ambassador Jelena Jankovic in Orbit

Tennis powerhouse Jelena Jankovic has been chosen by Wrigley’s Orbit to be its smile ambassador for the territory of Serbia. This is the first time that the chewing gum brand has appointed a brand ambassador in Serbia and Jelena was obviously chosen for her dazzling smile, which is as famous as her sports victories.

JJ will star in the latest TV commercial for Orbit scheduled to hit TV stations in Serbia in March. Viewers will be able to see her perform off-court and enjoy her shiny smile.

In addition, JJ will help Orbit in its campaign aimed at gathering the biggest number of smile photos ever collected for the Guiness Book of World Records.  Jankovic and Orbit want to show the world that Serbia can beat the world record, currently held by Birmingham (UK) where the collage totals 112,893 photos. Once the photos necessary to break the world record are collected, Serbia’s smiling collage will be presented on a public exhibition in Belgrade. The competition will be open from March 1st till May 31st.

What else is new with the former #1 tennis star?  Earlier this month she was selected by Status magazine as Personality of the Year.  And next week she’ll be in New York for the  BNP Paribas Showdown for the Billie Jean King Cup, which pits four of the top women’s tennis players in the world (Serena Williams, Ana Ivanovic, Venus Williams, and Jelena Jankovic) in a one night event at Madison Square Garden  for $1.2 Million in prize money.

(via Jelena Jankovic’s official website)

AO Update: No.1 Jankovic upset

A lot happening on a busy day of fourth-round action at the Australian Open in Melbourne.

The big upset: France’s Marion Bartoli reached her first quarterfinal at the Aussie Open, outhitting the Jelena Jankovic and stunning the top seed in straight sets 6-1, 6-4.

Bartoli, who famously upset then World No.1 Justine Henin in 2007 to reach her Wimbledon final, said after the match:

“I think I played amazingly. The last game of the match was pretty tough. I just tried to play my game. I served so well and I’m very pleased to have won. I knew I could beat Jelena on a good day, it was just a matter of executing, you know, play the right shot at the right time and don’t make too many mistakes. But I was not overwhelmed by the situation, and I just went for my shot and everything went in today. It was just a great match.”

Jankovic’s loss follows the early round exits of Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic from the Grand Slam tourney. While she may be No.1,  JJ’s yet to win a major – and until she does, a big question-mark hangs over her head.

Other big wins include Australia’s comeback player Jelena Dokic (No.187) defeating Russian 29th seed Alisa Kleybanova, who upset world No.5 Ana Ivanovic in the third round. Dokic defeated Kleybanova 7-5 5-7 8-6 and will next meet Dinara Safina in the quarterfinals.

Good stuff – who wants this title the most?

Results for Day 7: Sunday, January 25, 2009
Women’s Singles - 4th Round
(16) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (1) Jelena Jankovic (SRB) 61 64
(3) Dinara Safina (RUS) d. (15) Alizé Cornet (FRA) 62 26 75
(7) Vera Zvonareva (RUS) d. (10) Nadia Petrova (RUS) 75 64
(WC) Jelena Dokic (AUS) d. (29) Alisa Kleybanova (RUS) 75 57 86

Schedule for Day 8: Monday, January 26, 2009
Women’s Singles – 4th Round
Rod Laver Arena
Victoria Azarenka (BLR)[13] v. Serena Williams (USA)[2]

Hisense Arena
Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP) v. Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP)[21]
Dominika Cibulkova (SVK)[18] v. Elena Dementieva (RUS)[4]
Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS)[8] v. Jie Zheng (CHN)[22]

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.

Tennis: Jelena’s World

November 15, 2008 – If you can’t wait until next year to see your fave tennis players in action,  a documentary film was released this week  in Serbia called “Jelena’s World.”

Apparently cameras followed #1 player Jelena Jankovic around for more than a year to capture what exactly a tennis player’s life looks like behind the scenes.  Producers hope that the 80-minute film, directed by Tanja Brzakovic, will be distributed worldwide.

The 23-year old Jankovic secured the year-ending women’s number one ranking with three successive titles in recent months though she has yet to win a Grand Slam title.

From the Qatar paper Peninsula Online,

“Although a fighter, mentally and physically strong, she is not a super-hero, but above all, natural and honest… and the director recognises it skillfully,” a review in the [Serbian] Politika newspaper said. “She will laugh at herself, cry over sad memories, swear if she is angry, be shy about intimate details, and that is why she is a perfect movie hero,” film critic Dubravka Lakic wrote in the daily.

So what is life really like for JJ? Check out the trailer to find out: (btw – it might help to understand a bit of Serbian)

Top 10 shake-up in women’s tennis

November 10, 2008 – If you followed the WTA rankings this year, you know what a roller coaster it’s been. For the first time in recent memory, the top spot in the tennis world was within reach of more women players than ever.

The WTA-season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, won by Venus Williams over the weekend, shook up the Top 10 of the women’s world tennis rankings once more.

The elite tournament, which invites just eight top players, concluded Sunday with Williams’ 6-7, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Vera Zvonareva. The win moved Williams from eighth to sixth in the world – her best result since 2002 – while Zvonareva improved from ninth to a career-high seventh.

Serena Williams, who had to drop out of the Doha tournment due to an injury, moved from third to second, switching places with Dinara Safina, and Elena Dementieva jumped one spot to fourth, knocking Ana Ivanovic to fifth.

Svetlana Kuznetsova dropped one spot to eighth and Maria Sharapova, whose play has been limited by injury and who withdrew prior to the Sony Ericsson Championships, fell from sixth to ninth.

The only two ranking positions not to change in the Top 10 released Monday were No. 1 Jelena Jankovic – her fate was sealed a couple weeks ago and she was assured the top spot regardless of how she fared in Doha – and 10th-rated Agnieszka Radwanska.

Here are the current rankings:

1. Jelena Jankovic
2. Serena Williams
3. Dinara Safina
4. Elena Dementieva
5. Ana Ivanovic
6. Venus Williams
7. Vera Zvonareva
8. Svetlana Kuznetsova
9. Maria Sharapova
10. Agnieszka Radwanska

The next scheduled WTA events are to begin Jan. 5 in Auckland, New Zealand, and Brisbane, Australia, two weeks before the Australian Open.

Will the 28-year old Williams carry her end-of-year momentum into the new season in Australia?  Having just claimed one of the few big titles to elude her, it’s likely she’ll press forward and try to capture the elusive AO title.

Venus captures Sony Ericsson Championships title

November 9, 2008 – The WTA Sony Ericsson Championships – Doha 2008 have concluded with Venus Williams winning her first season-ending title, and the world’s number one doubles team  Cara Black and Liezel Huber defending their crown.

Venus Williams rallied to defeat Vera Zvonareva 6-7 (5), 6-0, 6-2 Sunday at the season-ending event in Dohar, Qatar.

The players were both 4-0 coming into the match but Wimbledon champion Williams took command in the last two sets with powerful serving, smashes and aggressive groundstrokes against her Russian opponent.

Williams won $1.34 million at the event, which for the first time offered the same prize money as the men at the ATP’s season-ending Masters Cup. With the check, Williams overtook Martina Navratilova and became fourth on the all-time women’s prizemoney list.

The first lady of Qatar, a conservative Muslim sheikdom, presented the trophy to Williams, shaking her hand and kissing her on both cheeks. Sheika Mozah bint Nasser al-Missned wore a traditional black head scarf and robe.

Such a public appearance by a ruler’s wife is unusual in the region. Mozah might be one of several wives; many emirs and kings in the Gulf have multiple wives — up to the four permitted by Islam.

Billie Jean King sat with Mozah and other dignitaries during the match and joined Williams on the court for the awards ceremony. The trophy is named for King. 

 [+]

Venus Williams defeats Jankovic in Doha to advance

November 8, 2008 – Venus Williams will play Vera Zvonareva in the Tour Championships final after she beat world number one Jelena Jankovic 6-2 2-6 6-3 in Doha. 

Williams came through a close third set when she saved four breakpoints for a 4-2 lead and the sixth game alone had all the drama of a whole match. With the win, she will be making her first appearance in a final of the end of season event.

In the other semifinal, Zvonareva beat fellow Russian Elena Dementieva 7-6 3-6 6-3 to advance. [+]

Match Highlights:

Tennis: Promoting gender equality in Doha

November 7, 2008 – As the top women’s tennis players battle it out at the last tourney of the WTA season, the spotlight is on female athletes in the host country of Qatar, a conservative Muslim sheikdom.

Girls and women have far fewer opportunities than men in sports and other fields in Qatar, which sent an all-male team to the Beijing Olympics this year. 

Even advertising the WTA event in a way that doesn’t offend Muslim culture is challenging. In other words – there can be no pictures of women players in their skirts and tanks – only silhouettes.

Billie Jean King, who formed the Women’s Tennis Association in 1973,  is in Qatar this week to promote gender equality in sport. She acknowledges that change is difficult and takes time.

According to Sportsline:

“That’s actually one of the big reasons I wanted to come here, was to learn,” said King, who is attending the WTA’s season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha. “I really want to listen this week more than anything.”

King, a vocal proponent of equal prize money for male and female professional tennis players, said a shift toward gender parity in sport is a gradual process that requires respect for all cultures and religions.

Two years ago, the WTA Tour and UNESCO started a program to promote women’s equality in sport, and King was declared “global mentor” of the program at a news conference in Doha on Thursday.

King joins fellow tennis players Venus Williams, the partnership’s global Promoter for Gender Equality, Frenchwoman Tatiana Golovin and Zheng Jie from China, who are regional Promoters of Gender Equality for the partnership. Visit WSF or UNESCO site for more info on the program.

Championship Play: On the competition front,  Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic have both withdrawn from their Friday matches at the Sony Ericsson Championship due to injury and illness. Alternates Agnieszka Radwanska and Nadia Petrova have stepped up.

Ivanovic, who turned 21 on Thursday, won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open in June and briefly topped the world rankings, but has since lost 10 out of 20 matches.

Meanwhile Venus Williams and Jelena Jankovic both reach the semifinals. Venus beat sister Serena to advance.  Jankovic moves on along with Vera Zvonareva who upset her during the round-robin competition.

WTA Results

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