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CHINA OPEN

October 1, 2011

Jelena Jankovic

BEIJING, CHINA

T. PASZEK/J. Jankovic
7-5, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. It's a little bit cold today in Beijing, a little windy. Do you think the weather influenced your performance today?
JELENA JANKOVIC: You know, it's tough to say that the weather influenced my performance today, but it was very cold out there. The conditions were tough, but it's for both of us. I had, you know, trouble, you know, feeling the ball. I just was making a lot errors. The ball kept flying off of my racquet.
But my opponent played much better. She was the better player today and she got used to -- she was used to the conditions better than I was.

Q. (In Serbian.)
JELENA JANKOVIC: Oh, brava. It's nice to hear talk in Serbian. I think you did a lot of work to say all of that.
You know, I been coming here in Beijing for many years, and I really love this tournament a lot, the venue, and it's been, you know, growing over the years. And especially now, you know, we have, you know, three beautiful stadiums here and this new one, the diamond.
And as well the most important thing that I love here is the people. People are really nice and welcoming, so that's why I been coming back. I always enjoyed playing here.
Unfortunately, you know, I didn't play so well tonight and didn't do well, but hope to come back in the future.

Q. Here are the questions from your fans. For your fans and yourself, this year may be tough because this is the first year that your ranking slipped out of top 10. So do you still have the confidence that your ranking could come back to top 10 maybe in next year?
JELENA JANKOVIC: Yes. I been in the top 10 for - consistently - for about four or five years in a row. I'm proud of that. I worked very hard in the last I don't know how many years.
So this year, you know, I had a lot of, you know, injuries. I will, you know, finish this season the best I can, and I will work very hard in the off-season to come back in 2012, and, you know, be the top player again. That's my goal. I will really work hard to come back there.
I believe in myself and I believe in my game. I think I have the game. It's just I hope that I will be healthy and that I can work on my game and do my best on the court.

Q. Your friend Novak Djokovic will be having his wedding very soon. Have you got any invitations from him? What do you want to say about his wedding?
JELENA JANKOVIC: He's getting married? Is that what you said?

Q. Yes.
JELENA JANKOVIC: Really? When? When is that?

Q. In October.
JELENA JANKOVIC: Really? (Smiling.) Um, you know, it's nice to hear that. I didn't know those news. I think he's back in Belgrade. You know, I been in Tokyo last week and I just came, you know, Thursday, you know, evening here in Beijing. So time difference and all that so I haven't been able to catch up with the news, you know, back at home.
And we'll see, you know, what will happen, if he will invite me to come to his wedding. I'm very happy for him. He's a great guy. I think he deserves the best in life.

Q. When was the toughest time in your career, and how did you get through it?
JELENA JANKOVIC: It's tough to say what is the toughest thing in in my career. As a professional athlete, you have obviously a lot of ups and downs. You can never expect, you know, yourself to go always up, even though you wish you could do that.
I always tried to stay positive in the toughest times. And with the support of family and friends and my team, I'm still here and I still play the sport and enjoy it. I'm still, you know, um -- you know, I'm 12 in the world. I'm not No. 1 as I used to be. But still, when you think about that, it's not bad.
I don't want to be -- how do you say? I don't really take anything for granted. I just enjoy it and take it day by day and enjoy the moment while I can. Like I said, I just want to continue to work hard and stay positive, and I believe I can come back and be, you know, hopefully No. 1 in the world again in the future.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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