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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 9, 2012Jelena JankovicINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA J. HAMPTON/J. Jankovic THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Just one of those bad days, Jelena? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, it was a bad day of tennis for me. I just did not, you know, feel the ball. You know, my legs felt so heavy on the court, so I was moving very badly, you know, out there. Hampton played solid. She was playing very well. I really, I was a shadow of myself. I don't know, you know. So I guess it's one of those days where you just come on the court and you just like, the legs don't go, the reactions are not there. It was‑‑ maybe I'm still recovering, you know, from jet lag, waking up at like 4:00 in the morning. Because just got back a few days ago from Malaysia, sp probably that had to do something with, you know, my performance today. I tried, you know, but it didn't work. Q. Have you had that problem here before of feeling kind of dead‑legged? JELENA JANKOVIC: No, no, not really. You know, I played well in the past here, and, you know, I was really looking forward, you know, to playing this tournament. And, you know, I really love it here, but unfortunately I didn't play well. I did not, you know, perform at a high level. Q. You sound like you have a cold or something. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I'm a little bit, you know, jet lagged and have a little, you know, allergies here and there. But still, you know, I went on court and I expected much more from myself, but it didn't happen. Q. You took a late wildcard into Kuala Lumpur and then obviously had to get over here. Was that any effect on kind of your ability to transition? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, maybe I had, you know, just a couple of days. I arrived here on Monday evening, and, you know, I had three days to get, you know, over the jet lag, which I'm still, you know‑‑ like I said, I have been waking up at 4:00 in the morning every day, and that's hard. For some reason, I just felt like really like my legs felt tired and slow on the court. But, I mean, I wasn't, you know, moving properly. That affects my game. You know, if I'm not moving well, I'm never on the ball and I don't hit clean balls. I'm not really dictating the play. I'm just like lost in space. So it was one of those days. You know, credit to Hampton. She played very solid. She did what she had to do. She took advantage. Q. How much did you know about her going into the match? JELENA JANKOVIC: I really didn't know much about her at all. I never, you know, saw her play. I have never seen her play in the past. But she came up, you know, and she had nothing to lose when she plays you know, players in my range. Like I said she took her opportunities and she executed her shots and it paid off. Q. Are you happy with your year so far? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, it's been going okay. You know, it could be better; it could be also worse. You know, the main thing is always to be healthy so that I can, you know, work. I got injured in Fed Cup, which I strained my muscle, you know, like 5.5 centimeters into my thigh, but managed to recover pretty fast after, you know, after that. You know, I was in good form in Dubai, and, you know, Kuala Lumpur, but maybe just had, you know, not much time to get over and get over the jet lag and, you know, feel fresh before this tournament. Maybe that's something maybe to do with it. But obviously there's no excuse. I had to go out and perform much better than I did today, but it didn't happen for me. Q. What is the status of that palatial mansion you were having constructed in Rancho Santa Fe? JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't understand the question. Q. Your house. JELENA JANKOVIC: I prefer not to comment. I just lost the match. Q. Have you considered maybe playing a reduced schedule this year? You're still playing a lot playing, almost every week, you know. JELENA JANKOVIC: You know, I really like playing. You know, I like competing, and the more I compete the better I play, but... And I wasn't scheduled to play Kuala Lumpur. It was just last‑minute thing for me to go there. And I enjoyed, you know, my time over there. But unfortunately, you know, with the time difference, it's, you know, a long way, you know. Long flight, 18‑hour flight, so obviously it paid a toll on me on my body and I just wasn't ready, you know, to compete at a high level here. My body just didn't feel, you know, good today. That's it, you know. I cannot say anything more. Justone of those days where you just‑‑ I don't feel like myself out there, even though I tried. It's still happening. Q. Do you feel like you have to play Fed Cup? Meaning that your country is depending on you, so even if you're not feeling great you're going to go anyways? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, that's also, you know, with our schedules ‑ we have Fed Cup coming up ‑ and with all the, you know, the schedule of, you know, of our own tournaments. And obviously you want to play for your country and help out and do my best there, you know. We are first time in the semifinals. But at the same time, it's very hard for me personally to, you know, fly from one side of the world to another without having any rest and just compete. As soon as you arrive you're almost back on the court competing. That's obviously not easy thing to do. I don't know. We'll have to see, you know. I try to always do my best, you know, in whatever conditions I'm in, but, you know, somehow today it just didn't happen. In the past I was able to do it, so there is no excuse. Q. Just a little off the match, what did you know about Nick Bollettieri before you went to Bradenton, and what were your first impressions of him? What had you heard about him before you went there, and when you first met him what were your impressions? JELENA JANKOVIC: When I first went there, you know, I obviously heard a lot of nice things about him from other people, and, as well, he has coached a lot of top players, at the time, Agassi and Monica Seles, and I really looked up to those players. I wanted to be like them. When I was 12 years old, you know, there's, you know‑‑ really, you don't really think so much of someone in that way as maybe I do now. But. I really admired‑‑ you know, I still admire him and what he has done and what he does. When I first met him, you know, I was maybe a little bit scared of him, because he has such a, you know, strong personality and he has that deep voice. I have too, but he has way deeper. But when he looks at me in the eyes, you know, on such a small girl and when he looks at me and starts talking to me, I was a little bit afraid in the beginning. But then, you know, I met him and I spent a lot of time with him when I was a kid and he helped me a lot with my game. He still helps me, you know, to this day. Q. Do you want Ana to play Fed Cup? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, it would be great if she could play. Obviously it's the greatest thing, you know, strongest team, and we have a really huge chance if she plays and if we ‑ like I said ‑ if we are complete. So it's not easy not when you play ‑‑ when I play and some of the other girls in the team which are lower ranked, they have to play and we are playing such a tough team, which is Russia, and they're all the top players there. It's not gonna be easy. So hopefully, you know, I don't know what her decision is and, you know, what she's, you know, what she's thinking about the Fed Cup. But obviously it would be great, you know, to play and, you know, to one day win it, because we're so close. We have two matches to go. Despite having, you know, the other trophies, individual trophies, it would be nice to add that trophy, you know, to my collection. It's something that you play for your country, and it's a different feeling, you know, to be playing in that competition than our own tournament. Q. Why don't you just ask her to play, to help out? JELENA JANKOVIC: It's really not my thing. It's the coach, captain of the team, who sends invitations, and it's up to the players if they're gonna accept it or not. It doesn't‑‑ it's not about between the players or not. It's my decision if I want to play, and she has to decide that on her own. Nobody will push anyone, and it's her decision. Q. Did you set any goals at the beginning of the year? Are you rethinking them? JELENA JANKOVIC: No, my goal overall is just to get my tennis to a level and improve some shots. I think I was on the right track. I was playing some good tennis, you know, in the previous tournaments. Today I was a shadow of myself. I was really‑‑ I didn't feel like I did anything right out there, but, you know, I have been working hard and I've been trying to, you know, get better as a tennis player overall. You know, I'm getting older as well, so playing against the younger girls and a lot of new names, new girls on the tour, which I never have seen before ‑‑ like Hampton, like lots of other, you know, girls that are just coming up and with the good potential to be good in the future. Q. Now that he's not working with Caroline anymore, have you talked to Ricardo Sanchez about possibly working with him as a coach again? JELENA JANKOVIC: He's right now with Petrova. He's helping her out. We'll see what I will do with that, with the coaching status for right now. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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