Jelena Jankovic defeated Danara Safina 6-4, 6-2 to win the Cincinnati Open, her second title of the year, after a victory in a claycourt tournament in Marbella in April.

"It's a good win for me, I'm happy that I'm back," said Jankovic. "I'm really pleased that I was able to play well today and beat the top player in the world."

"When I did the interview before the match, Pam Shriver asked me how I felt today after such a tough one last night. I said I wanted to believe I wasn't tired, that I'm fresh and ready to play," Jankovic said. "I was feeling sore this morning, but when I went on the court I felt fine. I'm really pleased I was able to play well and beat the No.1 player in the world. This is very good for my confidence going into Toronto and the US Open."


After ending 2008 as the world's No. 1, JJ added 7kgs of muscle to her frame after changing her training regime.

When she got back on the court, she felt slow and stiff and she faded out of the top group. She was distracted with an illness to her mother Snezana too. The rock-bottom moment came at Wimbledon, where 17-year-old qualifier Melanie Oudin upset her in the third round.



She took a month off to rest and help her mother get through surgery and overhaul her approach to tennis. She cut chocolate and cola from her diet. And finally she went back to playing her style from '08.

"Because I have not been playing very well this first half of the season, I said to myself, 'I'm going to begin'," she said. "This is my time to come back. I love playing on hard courts. I'm moving very well again and my game is coming back. I'm positive. I'm out there with a smile on my face, and I bring some, how do you say, interesting things into tennis again.Every match I got better and better and at the end, I won the title. It's a big title and it's been a while since I have done this. Hopefully I can continue with the consistent results."

She'll move up a spot to No. 4 when next week's rankings come out.

"I'm happy that I'm back," she said. "I'm back in this group of (top) players."

Safina was playing her eighth final of the season and is now 3-5 in those. She is now 12-12 lifetime in finals.

"I was very confident stepping onto the court, but then I was just totally off," Safina said. "There were a few moments were I was starting to get into the match, but she was using some good shots and hitting very close to the lines, also down the lines. She played some great tennis today."


(via The Associated Press, photo/Getty Images)

Jelena Jankovic wins Cincinnati Open!