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ROGERS CUP

August 21, 2009

Jelena Jankovic

TORONTO, ONTARIO

A. KLEYBANOVA/J. Jankovic
6-7, 7-6, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. You just won one week ago. Is that reason that probably you didn't have enough power to make final game and you were just in front of winning tonight?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I played a lot of matches, you know. I won the tournament last week. Especially yesterday I had a really tough match. I finished at 1:00 in the morning, and by the time we got to the hotel and everything, I went to sleep at 4:00 in the morning.
So I didn't have much time to recover, and obviously I was tired, you know. My body wasn't as fresh, you know, as in the beginning, you know, when I played in Cincinnati.
But I tried my best, you know. I had my chances. I needed a little bit more power, you know, to finish the match. You know, I saved, you know, the tiebreaker in the first set and won that, and then, you know, I had a match point in the second set in the tiebreaker, but she hit that really slow second serve, and I didn't expect it, you know. I was too far back. I didn't use that chance. I had one chance. I had a match point, and I didn't take it.
In the third, I was exhausted. My energy and everything went down, and you know, she took advantage of that.

Q. Can you talk a bit about the challenges? There were an unusual high number of challenges tonight.
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I mean, it was a lot of bad calls from the referee, and then, you know, I was -- I didn't really trust so many of those calls because I challenged -- especially in the first set, and I was right. Otherwise if I didn't challenge, I would have lost that first set for sure.
Those challenges saved me. There were so many bad calls. It was exactly in front of the umpire, and then they wouldn't see. Then you have to use the challenges, and then at the end you have none because it's so close, and the referee should at least tell you.
But it was so many mistakes. But what can you do? I mean, you cannot control that, and I can't do nothing about it.

Q. What would you like the chair umpire to do in a case like that?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, you know, okay, when the balls are -- if it's very little touching the line, okay, I can understand that. But there were balls like they were so much out and then she wouldn't call it. You know, even that let, you know.
Also, one time I served the ball, my serve was so much out, and then she didn't say anything, and then I challenged for my serve to be out. I mean, I never seen that before. That was really, really -- I didn't know what was happening. Then after so many mistakes, it gets really frustrating that you start -- like every time it's a close ball next to the line, you're in doubt. Should you challenge, should you not?
Then I was a little bit, you know, overusing because I was not really sure because I didn't have any trust in the umpire.
But anyway, you know, what can you do, you know? This is gone, and I tried my best, you know, today. I really had, you know, played with all my energy the little that I had left, and you know, she was more fast than me and she took it as an advantage and won the match.

Q. In the second set you were visibly upset with the umpire and you approached her. What did you say to her?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know.

Q. Can you tell us what you said to her?
JELENA JANKOVIC: I have no idea, you know. Of course it's frustrating, because sometimes you hit a good serve, and then your opponent doesn't even return the ball, just barely touches it, or you hit a good shot and it's on the line and your opponent didn't really have a chance to make it in the court, and then you have to -- they make a mistake, and then you have to repeat the point that you already won. Then you end up losing the point.
It's so frustrating because you should have been -- you know, it's tough to accept. But this is the way it is. I mean, you cannot -- you cannot think about that, you know, too much. If it gets in your head, you really -- you forget how to play, because all you're thinking is about all of these things.
But, you know, it should be -- you know, especially in this kind of, you know, level, they shouldn't be making these kind of mistakes. This was a little bit too much, especially that serve, you know. That I never seen before in my life where I missed so much. It was like this much out, and she would be like, No, no, your serve was good.
I'm challenging my serve to be out against myself, you know, because she didn't see it.

Q. Can you talk about your opponent a bit tonight and what was so difficult in her game for you to handle?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, you know, it was difficult, you know, for me, to be honest. The way she plays was tough, because she hits those shots, you know, so low and so flat. It gave me a lot of difficulties to play my game.
I wasn't able to attack, and it was -- then she as well had those really -- she found some angles which I wasn't expecting. I would pull her out of the court, and all of a sudden she would hit the line and I don't know how she came up with some of the shots.
I never played against her. I didn't know her game that well, and you know, it took me some time, you know, to see how she's playing, what she's doing.
As well, the physical part, you know, I wasn't on top of my game. I was tired, and I didn't have power. You know, I had a lot of ups and downs with myself fighting on my own, trying to stay in there and be strong and do the job, get the job done. But unfortunately I didn't do it.

Q. Is it easy to let this loss go before the US Open? Are you still feeling confident?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I'm still feeling confident. I won a tournament last week, beat a lot of top 10 players. Here I had also good wins. You know, yesterday's match was for me almost like a final. I played really good, and my opponent -- you know, Kim played really great tennis.
These kind of matches, you know, I'm happy about, that I'm able to bring some good tennis and do the right things and then at the end be able to win. I fought hard and all of these things. I went to sleep at 4:00 in the morning. You know, it's a long drive to the hotel, and all of a sudden you can't relax after such a tough thing. It was difficult for me.
So, you know, I'm not a machine. I played quite a lot, and it's been a while since I played so many matches, so it took a toll on me, but what can I do? I really gave everything that I had today, and unfortunately it wasn't enough.

Q. I saw your trademark backhand down the line yesterday, last night, and this night I saw a lot of your forehands crosscourt, much more than I would expect from you. I thought you would have more forehand down the line. It didn't happen. You got a lot from Kim last night, too, you got a lot of shots that you would hardly handle. It happened tonight again. So what do you think about that tactic, about having a little bit more forehands down the line?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, there are so many things that, you know, tactically you can do different, but the way my opponent was hitting the ball today, you know, it was really difficult. It's a really tough ball.
It's like I almost had to pitch it up. You know, it stays low and it kind of skids. So it was difficult for me to change direction for some reason. You know, it was difficult, you know. I never played against her, and so I didn't know what to expect. But next time I will be more aware, more alert, and I will know what I need to do.

Q. She really has a low body, and she picks up the low balls easy.
JELENA JANKOVIC: And also, it was difficult for me sometimes to read. She would come up with some shots, and it would like hit the line from really -- I don't know for how does she come up with these kind of --

Q. Like the backhand short crosscourt?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Short cross -- it would go so flat. I don't know. But this is the way she plays, and you know, as well, what does she have to lose? Nothing. So you can --

Q. She played great.
JELENA JANKOVIC: -- play more freely and you can go for your shots, and then, you know, they went in sometimes. She won, and I lost.
But anyway, I'm happy with these two weeks. You know, I did very well, and in this moment I'm No. 1 in the race, in this US Open series, so what can I ask more? This will be even a good chance for me to rest a little bit and to recover and train one week before I play the US Open, which is my main goal for this moment.

End of FastScripts

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