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AUSTRALIAN OPEN

January 18, 2008

Jelena Jankovic

MELBOURNE, VICTORIA

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Is consistency the key now to you for better performance?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I have no idea what it is. I managed to get this match. I should have finished in two sets, but I completely lost my concentration end of the second, and I also got very tired and I wasn't thinking about what I had to do in order to win. I was just completely kind of my mind stopped and I was tired.
And then somehow, it was a crucial point of the match when I was down Love-1 in the third, when I played that long game, managed to win that one, and then I kind of started to have energy and just went along in the third set.

Q. It seemed to be the umpire's decision about your mother seemed to fire you up, focus you. Were you very angry at that point?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, I wasn't angry. I was angry at myself because I wanted to get the job done. Obviously, I'm not in the best shape. Getting into a third set was not something I was happy.
So I just wanted to get myself back together and just think of what I have to do. I started to play aggressively and I started to dictate the points a lot more and started to play my game, which helped me win it.
I was very, very focused. When I got my momentum back I just kept playing, kept continuing. That's what got me -- I didn't want to let her get back into the match again. I wanted to finish off right away. I gave hundred percent at the end, and that's what helped me win the match.

Q. What was your view of the umpire's decision?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I think was wrong because my mom -- you know, my mom is just supporting over there in my box. She just said, C'mon in Serbian. I don't know what else she said afterwards. My coach is sitting right there next to her and he was very quiet. He's the one that's supposed to coach me and he wasn't saying anything (laughter).
I mean, it was umpire's decision, but it was not right because she doesn't understand what my mom told me in Serbian. She didn't coach me, so I don't think that's a coaching violation, whatever it's called. I never received something like that before.

Q. How big a concern is it for you that you've had two hard matches?
JELENA JANKOVIC: It's all right. It just shows I'm fighting. I mean, no matter what is happening on the court, if I'm playing bad or good, I just want to win the matches. I never give up, always try to find a way to win, try to change the way -- my opponent was starting to play very, very well, and especially at the end of the second set she was going for her shots.
She got her confidence back and I went down. My level of tennis went down and I wasn't playing the right shots. I stopped moving my feet. I completely lost, you know, my strategy.
And then in the third set I started to get back. I started to refocus again. I got some energy from the inside that really pushed me to go forward, and that's how I won.

Q. You said you were tired. Have you got enough energy level for the second week of the tournament?
JELENA JANKOVIC: That's why I was late. I was trying to recover, you know, after the match (smiling). I was doing so many things, you know, to feel better. Especially playing in the sun, in the heat, it's not a nice feeling.
Sometimes you feel dizzy. Sometimes you feel like you don't know where you are. But this is how we both get tired. But those are the ones who can kind of mentally pull it through and believe in themselves and still kind of make yourself think that you are not tired.
That's what I did. I managed to get the third set in my favor.

Q. How would you describe your level of fitness at the moment?
JELENA JANKOVIC: It's not that great actually. I wish I could have finished that match in two sets. I got very tired, and you probably could have seen that, you know, during my match with my attitude. Kind of my head was down and I just was kind of dragging myself around the court.
That obviously gave my opponent a lot more confidence and she got her shots all together and she was going for them and she did a good job at the end of the second set. I was completely -- I wasn't doing the right things. I was just tired and down and not really out there.
And then I got myself together and managed to -- I was really pumped. You know, maybe that warning, you know, my mom was joking around, I can get you many warnings now. In order if you get yourself pumped up, okay, I'll keep like telling you all these things, so I'm kind of coaching you (smiling).

Q. Has she ever been accused of coaching before?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, never.

Q. Does she want a slice of the coaching fee?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Actually, she was not coaching me. She was just trying to tell me like, C'mon, keep going. Don't stop. What am I doing out there. She was just trying to lift me up a bit. She wasn't doing anything.
She wasn't telling me, Hit to her forehand; go to the net; keep your left hand up when you serve, or something. She wasn't doing that. She was just telling me kind of like supportive things.

Q. Your interaction with your mother, you're smiling and laughing. Do you feel you may have to curb a bit of that if umpires are not going to like it?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't really know. It's the first time I got that. That's because I was angry and I was just trying to let the frustration out in my box. So that was wrong. I should have done it somewhere else and then that wouldn't happen.
But I know now. It's a good learning experience, so I will not do it again.

Q. Is there anybody you can talk to, officials, to sort this out?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. I was telling her -- I mean, she told me, C'mon in Serbian. She goes, Yeah, but she told you something else. That's coaching. What do you mean it's coaching if you didn't understand what she told me in Serbian? It's like she didn't have an explanation, and that was it.
I didn't want to continue to argue with her. I just wanted to focus on my game and see what I can do to win the match. But actually it got me pumped. If the umpires keep doing that, you know, it's going to be dangerous (laughter).
Some people, you know, it can put them down, but me it helped. I cannot complain.

Q. Can you talk to someone of a higher authority?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, it's fine. It's all set. It was just maybe a misunderstanding. The supervisor just told me not to talk with anybody from my box, because if I talk, it has to be in English so that everybody can understand. But my mom obviously is not going to speak to me in English. So, I mean...
But, anyway, it's all past. It's all gone. The most important thing is that I won the match. Nobody cares if my mom talked to me or not or whatever happened in the box. All that counts is that I came off the court as a winner, so that's what matters.

Q. You were late to have a shower.
JELENA JANKOVIC: You saw me in my wet dress probably (smiling)?

Q. Yes.
JELENA JANKOVIC: Actually, I went to the gym, which is across the street. It's kind of far away, so I had to go in my dress. I had to go in that ice bath, which was not so pleasant, but it helps, you know, to recover. That's what I basically did.
So I was -- you know, my transport was late, so I had to go with my coach and run through all the crowd. They were looking at me, What am I doing with my hair wet, with my dress all wet, kind of see-through a bit. I was like running (laughter). I was just running to get, you know, back to my locker and shower again, you know, put dry clothes and talk to you guys.

Q. Mauresmo is your next opponent. If you play like you did today, do you think you can beat her?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Actually I thought I played quite well in the first set. I was dictating the points. I was returning very well. I was very aggressive, and my backhand was working very well. I was hitting it very flat and deep and controlling most of the points.
So if I can continue to keep playing like that and play consistently for two sets, I have a good chance and I'm very confident, so we will see. I just want to stay healthy, and just keep playing my game and have fun playing my game on the court.

Q. Do you think about defending points, WTA points?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't really think about defending points; I think about gaining some new ones.

End of FastScripts

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