Jelena Jankovic will help Serbian tennis to complete its domination over the WTA tour as she becomes the number two in the rankings on Monday. Jankovic will overtake Russia’s Maria Sharapova at the WTA rankings position number two, which will come as the Serb’s career high.

Jelena had originally been registered to appear at Birmingham Open this week – the event she won in 2007 – but eventually withdrew due to a persistent right arm injury. The runner-up of the last year’s final, Maria Sharapova, also misses out on the women’s grass-court event. As a result of the withdrawal, Jankovic will lose 140 WTA points, while the Russian will be deduced 100 points.
Jankovic belongs to a group of players who have taken part in the greatest number of WTA tournaments (24), which has earned her additional 100 bonus points. The count adds up to the latest rankings list (to be made official on Monday, 16 June) where Jankovic sits at place number two with 3,715, a step closer to the number one Ana Ivanovic and her 4,222 points.

“To become number one is definitely one of my goals, but you need to earn the prestigious spot. If I fail to win one of the Big Four tournaments, I don’t deserve to become the number one. I am not all too pleased with the semi-final in Roland Garros, I’d expected to reach the final, to win the title and become the number one player. But, that’s sport, defeats are part of the game. I’ve already set my mind on Wimbledon and my campaign to win my first Grand Slam. I’ve cancelled my appearance in Birmingham, as I need more time to recover from injury and prepare myself as best as I can for the big London event,” says Jankovic.

Having taken over Sharapova in the rankings, Jankovic will be the number two seed at Wimbledon, thus will avoid meeting up with her compatriot Ana Ivanovic prior to the final.


(source Blic, photo/PIERRE VERDY/AFP/Getty Images,
PATRICK KOVARIK/AFP/Getty Images via Yahoo Sports)

Serbian double domination - Ana No.1, Jelena No.2!