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INTERNAZIONALI BNL D'ITALIA (WOMEN)

May 6, 2009

Jelena Jankovic

ROME, ITALY

J. JANKOVIC/K. Bondarenko
6-1, 1-0 (ret.)

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Are you glad of the rest, or would you have rather stayed on court for another half an hour, three-quarters of an hour?
JELENA JANKOVIC: No, I would have loved to finish the match, because I was playing pretty well in that first set. I felt the ball really well and I had good timing, so, I mean, it was a good set. You know, a good game for me.
But, you know, unfortunately my opponent was sick, and there's nothing you can do about that.

Q. Now you go to training, or not?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I practice a little bit after the match. I hit for a little bit and played couple of games with my sparring partner, and that's it.
Maybe now I go a little bit of shopping, and that's it. I have an easy day for me today, unlike yesterday where I spent most of the day here.

Q. What's better for you in a tournament like this: a tough match like yesterday or an easy one like today?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, it's different, because during the tournament you're going to have difficult matches and some easy matches depending on how you play. It all depends on you. If you are putting up your game and you are focused from the first point on, then you can try to finish the job easier.
But, you know, as you get deeper in the tournament, the opponents get tougher and tougher. And those girls who are playing against you, they're in good form as well and they're playing good tennis, so the matches get more and more difficult.
But I just try to play my tennis the best that I can, and we'll see. Some days hard; some days easier. I cannot control that, the way the other girls play. I can control how I play.

Q. Would you have preferred to spend a bit longer on court today?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I would have loved to finish that match, because I felt under control. I was hitting the ball very well. And I would have loved to finish in two sets if I could, but you never know.
These kind of things don't happen very often, and you cannot control. It's unfortunate. Nobody likes to be sick and nobody likes -- and nowadays, so many girls -- and I also have a cold and I'm always blowing my nose and this kind of thing of. So it's very difficult for us, the tennis players, to be healthy and to play at the top level.

Q. Will you look for anything special in your shopping later, or not?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. I pretty much have everything I need, but you always, when you get in the store, Oh, this is a nice thing. Maybe I can have this.
Already, you know, my mom has been going shopping. I kind of write a list of buy me this, buy me that. So I don't know. I will go today for a little bit, not too much because I must save my energy for my match tomorrow.
We will see. Maybe I can tell you tomorrow if I bought something. But for sure I will not come back empty handed.

Q. Other than the cold you just mentioned, how are you in terms of fitness at the moment? During the clay court season least year you seemed to pick up a lot of little niggles by the time you got it Roland Garros?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I worked very hard, because before the clay season I wasn't doing very well so I had a lot of time to practice and do a lot of physicalness. So I was doing a lot of work trying to come back into form, trying to find my movement and my strength again on court.
But, you know, when you get a little bit sick, and I got sick in Fed Cup in Spain, so then your body gets broken down a little bit and you are not able to practice a little bit so your body gets a little bit out of shape.
But it's getting are better and better. Now I'm playing a lot of the matches. For me, the best practice are playing matches. The more I play, the better I get and the fitter I get, because you do everything out there. In the match, you're moving, in some of the long matches you get good endurance, power, and everything. That's happening on court.
It's not the same when you're practicing all day and doing things. It's completely a different story when you get out there and you play your matches.

Q. Do you prefer for tomorrow a revenge against Pennetta or Svetlana?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Either opponent will be tough. Whoever it will be, I will go out there and try to play my tennis the best that I can. I hope that I can get through that match.

Q. How much energy do you use shopping?
JELENA JANKOVIC: How much energy? For me, shopping is quite relaxing, especially when you are buying some things for yourself or for others. It makes you happy, so you come kind of -- you know, you come with a positive energy. You're never angry when you go shopping, that's for sure.
Sometimes from walking a lot, and then you might come back and your legs can hurt. That is the only bad thing about shopping. That's all.
Especially when you are going, for example, in Piazza di Spagna you are walking in so many stores. You can shop for hours and hours. But I'm not here -- I have to put some good shoes. That is the most important thing when you're going shopping: to have some comfortable shoes that you can do that walking for a while.

Q. For shopping, do you listen opinion of your mother, for example, or friends?
JELENA JANKOVIC: My mother has a good sense of style. You can probably see her all the time in the box, and she's always dressing as she is now in the mood. Sometimes it's warm here, and she's putting hats and all these kind of different things.
She's a good mother, and I listen to your opinion for sure.

Q. Returning to today's match, while the match was played you looked in very good form. Was that in any way a reaction to being a little bit frustrated yesterday at a few too many unforced errors?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. Always the first match is the most difficult, at least for me, during the tournaments. I came from Stuttgart where we played indoors and the court was much faster.
I got here and you're playing outdoors and the court is much slower than where I played last week, so it takes some time for me to adjust on that court. The balls are different, so every little thing can make a difference on your performance.
So today I did much better. I improved on my game and I was much more focused from the first point, and I tried not to have, how you say, ups and downs in my game. I tried to keep going the whole time no matter what the score is during the match, so I'm really satisfied with the way I played my tennis.

End of FastScripts

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