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WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPENAugust 15, 2014Jelena JankovicCINCINNATI, OHIO S. WILLIAMS/J. Jankovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Thoughts on the match? Obviously a tough one. JELENA JANKOVIC: Oh, my God. Obviously was a bad day in the office. I just felt a little bit slow out there. I don't know, for some reason I was really late on my shots and I did not serve well. I didn't do anything well. She was obviously the way better player today on court. That's it. You know, I tried the best I could, but I felt really slow. Just felt kind of sluggish out there. I don't know, maybe from the match yesterday it was a little bit tough and my legs were a little bit heavier today. But I was trying and just always late. I'm late. I had chances when I could stay in the point and just make all these mistakes or hit a short ball and she puts it away. So it was really bad. Q. Obviously you don't want to feel that way going in against her. JELENA JANKOVIC: No. Q. But do you think it was more you today or was it her... JELENA JANKOVIC: She played solid. She basically didn't have to do a lot. Your opponent plays as well as you let them play. I really let her play her game and what she does best. I just didn't do anything to disturb that, to kind of get into match and do something. I served also badly. I just overall‑‑ especially that first set. I mean, I had 40% first serves. Against her you cannot do that. You cannot afford to give her lots of second serves, because she's going to attack you and she wants to dominate. I mean, it was a tough day for me, but that's the way it is. Q. You played her earlier in the year, right? She's had certainly a funky year. All of a sudden she's on run. JELENA JANKOVIC: You know, it's tough for me to say. I don't like to compare how people play. She can play, you know, great. She did that today, so that's all I'm going to comment. Q. Are you planning to play Fed Cup any time soon? I realize it's down the pike, but Serbia does have a Davis Cup. Is that a career goal? JELENA JANKOVIC: I played for about 12 years, and I played when we were in those groups back in the Europe/Africa group, which we now came back to. Q. Right. JELENA JANKOVIC: Last time I played we made it to the finals and lost to Czech Republic in Prague. I haven't played for about two years and they dropped to Europe/Africa group. So now I'm 29 years old and trying to focus on my career. The schedule is so tight and full of tournaments. When we have those weeks in between, I need to recover my body and do what's right. Because it was very difficult for those 12 years. I would just play my own tournaments and then fly from Australia, from plus 35 degrees to minus 10, 20. It was very tough on the body. And I also believe it's now time for younger generation to step up and play. Q. Today aside, how do you feel about the state of your game going into the Open? JELENA JANKOVIC: I haven't competed. Maybe that's also one of the reasons. I did not play a match since Wimbledon. You know, it was a lot of time off. I had a hip problem, so I did not train for three and a half weeks. Then I trained for two weeks very hard, hard as I could, to get ready for Montréal and here and of course US Open. When I played those matches I felt so tired just getting ‑‑ practicing is completely different than playing matches when you're under pressure. Then the next day when you wake up you're so sore everywhere and your legs are heavy. I need to get into that rhythm again, so that's what I'm dealing with right now. But it's fine. Q. You're talking about feeling tired. Is that normal or are you like... JELENA JANKOVIC: No, it's normal to feel tired because we play all these tough matches. But I'm just sore, like in different parts of my body. You got to go through that in order just to‑‑ so I'm in that stage right now. But it's fine. I accept that and I just have to continue to work hard and get better. Q. Three and a half weeks off, was that a planned period of time? JELENA JANKOVIC: No. I had a hip problem. Started like a little bit before French Open and then continued in Wimbledon. I did not feel well at all, so I had to. It was not my choice. It's quite a lot of time to not play for three and a half weeks, but it's the way it is. I feel okay now. I'm healthy. But I need to get going. It's a process, and it does not happen overnight. But I think I had also a pretty good tournament. It's fine. I lost to the best player in the world right now. I did not play a good match today. That's a fact. What can I do? Q. You always have had a great presence on the court. Do you love playing as much as ever now? JELENA JANKOVIC: I enjoy competing, you know. For me, it's fun. I love battling. I love being out there in front of the crowd and just playing tennis, running after balls. Today was actually not so much fun. That's what kind of bothers you when you do not play well. There is no points, nothing going on. That's kind of boring I think for me and for the spectators. For Serena it was great. She was doing good. But that's the tennis game. You're going to have bad days; you're going to have great days. Hopefully more good days than bad days. That's the way it is. I'm going to go out on the practice court and work on my game, work on things that need to be improved, and that's it. I go from there. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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