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BNP PARIBAS OPEN

March 14, 2009

Jelena Jankovic

INDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA

A. PAVLYUCHENKOVA/J. Jankovic
6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: What was the problem? Is that because you didn't play her before? Is it your game or something else? What happened?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. I'm struggling in this moment to find my game overall and find the confidence on the court. She played well. I don't know the way she plays Europe but she played solid today.
Obviously she was the better player. But I'm not at my level. That's the case. I'm trying to find that game and trying to come back into the form. But I'm struggling at the moment.

Q. Can you pinpoint any more specifically what you feel like you're struggling with?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Overall, everything. You know, my whole concept of the game, it's kind of off, especially during the points. I don't feel some of my shots that were my weapons before.
Overall I think the whole game needs some adjustments and some kind of finding the rhythm and finding the way to construct the points and just find the timing back. Overall, the confidence, when you have to play those points.

Q. You went through your slump before, the ten-match slump. Can you look back on that and draw something from that to help you get out of what you're experiencing right now?
JELENA JANKOVIC: It was a different case. I did some different training in the off-season. In the beginning, I felt really different with my body because I got a little bit of muscles and I felt heavier on the court.
It took me time to adjust to that. Now I'm coming back to normal. Still not there yet. But for me, that was something different.
I was never used to having like almost seven kilos. It's like five kilos more than usual. It's like ten pounds. It's like when I had to move, especially playing in Australia and some other tournaments, I felt really heavy on the court and really had no reaction.
Playing like that, you don't feel satisfied. You're just trying to find the game back. Last year I finished No. 1 in the world and I was playing great tennis, especially at the end of the year. This year I'm not the same player. So I'm trying to get that.

Q. The Djokovic family is working on a tennis tournament as you know. I would like to know your thoughts on what that means for the future of the tennis in your country and as well...
JELENA JANKOVIC: I can't answer that now. I'm not in the mood.

Q. She's young and rising fast. Did you feel going in she could be dangerous and what do you think she did well against you today?
JELENA JANKOVIC: She's a solid player. I don't know how her future will be. She's a young player. I don't know about her. I wasn't really focusing on her game. I was just trying to focus on myself and focus on what I can do to get better.
Obviously it was a big struggle, and that was the case. But she's a good player. She has a good potential.

Q. After finishing the year No. 1, why did you try different training? Were you training for endurance?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. Just trust in training. It was not my tennis. It was my physical condition. I did a lot of endurance, and I don't know. For some reason I got so much slower and lost the first step.
Now trying to -- you probably can see. Now I'm moving much, much better than how I moved, especially in Australia or Dubai or -- some of those tournaments I was even worse.
Maybe it's a little bit better, but it's still not -- it's, you know, I don't know how to explain it, actually.

Q. Do you think that can be fixed quickly or will it take time?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. I wish I had a magic stick and just fix my game and just playing awesome tennis again. I would like it to be that way, but sometimes it's not.

Q. Are you doing anything specific to try to lose the weight and get the first step back?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. Maybe I'm fat or -- I don't know what it is. I was bigger. I was really bigger and it was something that I was not used to. I was always a certain weight and always -- you know, my best weapon was my legs. I always moved and I had the anticipation and I was always on the ball.
Now I just cannot do that. I'm one step too slow or one step too much into the shot. And then all the strokes break down and I don't have the timing and my accuracy is not there.
I mean, overall everything is wrong. I need a lot of work.

Q. What will you do between now and Miami?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. Train, probably, if I can.

Q. Will you go back to Florida? Back to Bollettieri's?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know.

Q. Even though you know you're not playing very well, it still seems very disappointing for you. Did you still have high hopes coming into the tournament?
JELENA JANKOVIC: It's okay. You know, I had high hopes, but my game is not there so it's done.

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