Interview with Jelena Jankovic

Q:        Congratulations on finishing the year as the World's Number 1 player.  The Number 1 ranking changed hands many times – can you tell us your thoughts on that?
A          After Henin retired there was an opening for the No. 1 position and for a period of time during the year we were all fighting for that spot and there were many changes between a couple of girls at the top. But in the autumn, I had a really great couple of tournaments and won 3 tournaments in a row, and I was able to secure the ranking to finish the year as the No. 1 player in the world.  

Q:        How does it feel not to have won a Grand Slam yet?
A:        I'm working very hard and that is one of my priorities for 2009 – to start by winning one of them. I'm practicing very hard to improve some of the sections of my game, to improve overall and to take my tennis game to the next level. I believe in myself and I believe my time will come.   

Q:        What do you think is your best chance to win a Grand Slam – the Australian Open?
A:        I will try my best always – that is the first Grand Slam of the year.  At the moment I'm really training hard and doing my best to get as fit as possible. I hope to be ready and in the best shape ever by the Australian Open because my goal is to win.  It is my wish.  

Q:        What have you been doing to get into shape and prepare for the 2009 season?
A:         I started training 2 weeks ago. I just came back from Mexico where I was in high altitude and the emphasis was on my fitness.  I was doing a lot of running and spent a lot of hours in the gym trying to improve my strength and speed overall. I'm trying to get very strong and fit for next year and to minimise my injuries as much as I can control.  And now I just arrived in Florida where I will be working on my tennis together with fitness but more emphasis on tennis.  I'm training quite hard and trying to get ready for next year.  

Q:        No holiday?  No break over Christmas and New Year?
A:        I had my holidays – I was in Hawaii for 2 weeks before I started training in Mexico so my holidays are over and now it's time to get back to work.  

Q:         You've been travelling the world for tennis – what's your favourite destination and why?
A:         My favourite destination is Rome.  I just like that city, I love the culture and the atmosphere and the people.  

Q:        When you were young who was your favourite tennis idol?
A:         I didn't really have an idol but one person I liked watching was Monica Seles.

Q:         Do you think Serve and Volley tennis will come back?  Now it's the power decade.
A:         It's hard to say because it's so individual.  Maybe there will be someone in the younger generation with that style of play but it's hard to say.  Nowadays players are playing from the baseline and hitting the ball quite hard.  

Q:         Will this be your first time to Hong Kong?
A:        Yes, this will be my first time.  I've never been before.  I've been to many places in China but not to Hong Kong.  

Q:         Do you have plans to go shopping?
A:         I love shopping. If I have some free time I would love to go shopping and have a good time.  I hope so.  

Q:        Do you think women's tennis these days is very competitive?
A:         Yes I think women's tennis is very, very competitive.  A lot of girls are trying their best and working very hard, and as soon as we go on the court we all want to win and reach our potential and do the best that we can.  I think that's great for the fans and entertaining to see competitive girls out there.    

Q:        What do you think of the Chinese players e.g. Zheng Zie?
A:         She's a great player. I played against her once or twice this year.   She is very solid and moves very well on the court. She's a tough opponent to play against.

Q:         Can you tell us a bit about your documentary movie which came out last month?
A:         The premiere of my documentary movie was in November and it was quite exciting to bring it to the Serbian people so they could see how my life is on tour – what I'm like; what I do on the court and off the court; what I'm going through in my tennis life on a daily basis. So it was quite exciting and I believe the people really liked it.  

Q:        Is it true that one of your dreams is to become a Hollywood actress?

A:         I really like acting.  In the future when I'm finished with my tennis career I would like to try to do some more of that.  But of course I need acting classes and dedicate more time to that profession but now tennis is my priority and tennis is what I do best.   

Q:        Who's your favourite actress?
A:        I don't know – there are a lot of great ones.  But one of my favourites is Julia Roberts.  

Q:     You met Jackie Chan in Beijing – have you watched his movies before?

A:         Yes, I saw the last couple ones like Rush Hour.  It was exciting to meet him for the first time especially after watching him since I was a child.  

Q:         You mentioned you do a lot of travelling on tour – has that become a grind or do you enjoy it?
A:         Sometimes it is hard to travel around the world but it's part of the job, we have to do it. Every week we're in a different hotel, in a different country.  Sometimes it's quite difficult and it can get quite lonely, but at the same time it's very important to have a good team around who travels with you and keeps you entertained, and to always have the positive energy around me which helps me to play at my best and helps me feel more comfortable when I'm on the road.   

Q:         You met a waterpolo player at the Beijing Olympics – is it easier to have an international sports player who understands how it is to be a professional athlete as your boyfriend?
A:         Yes I think it is very important especially because I travel so much and I'm a professional athlete, so the person who's going to be with me has to understand my profession and what goes around it.  I like having an athlete, not in the same profession as me – in another sport, but he understands my mentality, and understands what I go through because he goes through the same thing but in a different way.  But I think it's nice to have that combination.  Of course it's very hard because we don't see each other very often because of our jobs, but that's the way it has to be.  

Q:         Waterpolo players are renowned for their stamina, for being very fit.  Has he helped your fitness regime in the off season?
A:         (laughs) No no no no!  I have my own fitness trainer – I have my own team of people when it comes to my training.  He has nothing to do with that.  He focuses on his own sport, and he's just my boyfriend.  He doesn't get involved in my job.

Q:         Has he taught you how to play waterpolo?
A:         (laughs) No no no – not at all.  When we spend time together, he doesn't really like speaking about his sport and I don't really like talking about tennis.  We have other interests that we both enjoy and we have a good time.  

Q:         When you don't play tennis, what do you do for leisure?
A:         I like shopping, I like going to the beach, I like reading books, and I have to study.  At the moment I am at University so when I have free time I have to study.  I also have my own clothing line in Serbia so when I have time, I try to draw some of the designs and a lot of other things.  This year when I was free or had an opening we were filming this documentary movie, so I'm quite a busy girl these days.   

Q:        How do you manage to juggle all these things all at once?
A:         Sometimes it gets very hard because there are a lot of obligations during the day.  But I like doing all those things so then it's much easier because if I didn't enjoy it, if I didn't like it, then I would have a really hard time, but all those things I mentioned I really do it with a smile on my face so it's no problem for me.  I want to do it and as long as I'm happy that's what matters.  

Q:        By being busy does it make it easier to switch off from tennis, and to sit down and design something for your fashion line?
A:         Yes. Tennis is my priority but I think it's very important to sometimes get your mind off tennis and do other things, and try to enjoy some of the other things in my life and experiment and experience everything because I'm a young girl.  I like to do new things and try different things, and learn something new. It also helps me play my tennis game a lot better because I'm not just tennis tennis tennis all day long.  I do other things that make me more relaxed so when I go onto the court I'm more focused on the job.  

Q:         Do you design your own tennis outfits? 
A:         I designed a couple outfits such as the one I wore for the Olympics in Beijing this year, and I also designed the yellow dress I wore for the US Open. I hope I will continue to design some of my dresses for next year.  

Q:         Can you tell us about your clothing line in Serbia?
A:         It's of clothes off the court – a lot of dresses.  We had a fashion show when I was Serbia before my vacation and it was all about glamour dresses for glamorous events.  That's what I've designed lately.  But mainly the clothes that I like to wear when I go out – when I'm going for special occasions.  It's for the women who like to look elegant.  

Q:         Who's your favourite designer?
A:         I don't really have a favourite one, but I like a couple of them like Roberto Cavalli, I like Gucci.  My favourite shoes are Jimmy Choo.  I like Louis Vuitton.  I like different things – I don't just have one favourite.