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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 15, 2007

Jelena Jankovic

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Jelena Jankovic last year and Jelena Jankovic this year are different. What's the difference?
JELENA JANKOVIC: One year makes a big difference. And I think I'm older now. I think I'm more mature. I don't know, I just am improving and getting better and better, and that's the biggest difference.

Q. Big help from your coach now?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yes, I think my coach is helping me, and I'm also here with my sparring partner. It's going really well, and I'm really enjoying my game and playing well.

Q. Your opponent today, the Canadian girl, looked good?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, she was a good player, but it's always tough for me the first round because you never know how you'll play. It's another tournament. I played so much in the last couple of weeks. I had 10 matches in 11 days and didn't have much rest. But I'm happy that I won today and that -- I hope to keep going.

Q. And you feel well?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I'm a little bit tired and I felt a little bit slow on the court. I didn't feel so fresh and so -- I didn't have good energy, but I tried my best, and I'm happy to I won.

Q. How do you try to freshen yourself up when you get a day off tomorrow? What do you do to try to regain some energy?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Just try to rest as much as possible, and I'll have a like a light hit and a massage and just try to recover my body the best as possible because I had so many tough matches in the last couple of weeks, and it was just so tough on my body. I need to recover well in order to play well.
So I'm trying. I will just play a little bit tomorrow and try to rest as much as I can.

Q. What did you tell yourself after the end of last season to get yourself motivated for this year? Did you say, Yeah, now I've really turned the corner and I belong with the other players?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I think I believe more in myself. I know I can compete with the best players and beat them, and hopefully I will join them soon in the rankings because now I'm 11 in the world. And if I won last week I would have been in the top ten, so that's my goal: To go in the top ten.
My goal is just to get better and better, just to keep improving, and I think nothing is perfect . You can always get better, and that's my goal, just to get better than I am today. That's my goal. Tomorrow I want to be better than I am today. That's just my goal.

Q. Did you hear about all the fans being thrown out today, the Serbians?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, I was playing, and I heard that there was some fights. But like I said, here in Melbourne it's a little bit strange because I think it's just a sport and people should just come and enjoy the game.
It's not about where you're from or -- you either like the player and you'll cheer for them, but you don't have to cheer against them just because they are from some country, and I think that's wrong.

Q. Do you think it's more football fans who have gravitated towards tennis because you have players from their countries now?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know, but I had such a big crowd in New Zealand, in Sydney. It was just a great atmosphere to play in front of such a crowd when they're cheering. I think this kind of atmosphere motivates both of the players to show their best tennis, and it's, I think, a lot more fun to watch.
But I don't like when they are fighting against each other and kind of booing the other player just because they are from some other country. I think that's not fair, so that's just my opinion.

Q. It's hard on the other player if they're booing double faults?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. I think the game should just be fair and they should clap for good points and support the player they like, but they shouldn't be really mean and really bad and fight against the other just to make the other one feel bad.

Q. A Serb is actually playing a Croat tomorrow in the men's draw.
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yes, I heard it will be quite tough. You know, I just hope from will be no fights. I hope that it will go in a peaceful way. Because I think just here in Melbourne that there is this kind of problems. Anywhere else in the world it's fine.
When you play a Croatian girl or when there's matches, Serbian and Croatian, it's fine. But here it's just -- I don't know what it is.

Q. How did you find the crowd atmosphere in your game?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, the crowd for me was really great. I had so many -- the stadium was quite full. I think full completely, and I had so many Serbian fans and the other fans, as well, and they're just cheering. It's fun to play in such atmosphere.

End of FastScripts

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