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MERCURY INSURANCE OPENJuly 19, 2012Jelena JankovicCARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA J. JANKOVIC/M. Czink THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Must have felt good to pull it out. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, felt good fighting out there. It was one of those days when you don't really play well and you don't really feel your shots, but I found a way to win. That's so important. There are going to be days when you don't play so well, and those are the days when you have to grind it out and gut through it. I was able to do that, so pleased with that. But obviously there was a lot of things that I didn't do well when it comes to my game. But like I said, one of those days. I will go out on the practice court tomorrow and hopefully clean up some things so that I can do better in my next match. Q. Your serve seemed to bail you out quite a bit in the tight moments. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, the serve was pretty good, especially in the big moments. Times I was down I think ing the second set, a lot of break points and I was able to come back and take the games. You know, a break point down and served, at 5‑4 served an ace. Overall the serve was working well, and that helped me a lot, that stroke. So, yeah, that was good. Some other things in my game, yeah, could have been a lot better. My movement could have been better. I was a little bit slow. But the most important thing is to win, and I get another chance to play tomorrow. Q. Can you talk about the limited mobility? Was there anything bothering you today? JELENA JANKOVIC: No. I was reacting a little bit slower and I wasn't setting up on the ball as well as I would have liked to. But that's tennis. You know, you're not always going to feel so light and so fast. But those are the days when you have to work a little harder and get through. Q. You've had great outdoor hard court results in the past. I think your last win before today on outdoor hard courts was Kuala Lumpur, which is a long time ago now. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. Hopefully I can start here again. I like playing on the hard courts. It's actually my favorite surface, and I've had a lot of great results in the past. You know, I don't want to say which tournaments. It's a long ways. But I enjoy it, it suits my game, and I love playing in this kind of conditions. So I'm excited to be here, especially this is a place where I'm going to be spending time. I would like to start somehow my comeback and just to play good tennis and to perform and to enjoy it, you know, out there. Even though there was times I played well and there was times I didn't play well, I was down, but I enjoyed the battle. I was out there having fun, and I think that's important. Q. You're a pretty tough critic of yourself. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. Q. When is the last time that you can remember where you played a match this year or last that you thought, Okay, that was good? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, probably one of those that I'm never happy with. No matter what I do, I always think I can do better. There is a lot of things obviously that can be improved. I'm never satisfied because I'm always striving for improvement and just to, you know, be a better player, hit certain things fast and more precise and all that. So I cannot say ‑‑ there is not one match that's perfect. Each match is individual. I cannot just pick one where I played so well or I did, I don't know. So we'll see. Q. After the first set, did you feel, Okay, I can shrug this off, or did you feel like you were in a little bit of trouble? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I was in trouble. I was down a break in the second. I was down a set and a break, so it wasn't easy. I was, you know, pushed, so I had to do something. I had to change something. I had to figure out a way to come back. I think I started serving much better in the second set. I found my rhythm and I was able to break her and break her rhythm and kind of mess up her game a little bit and get her off her rhythm. She was striking the ball very well, she was hitting the ball clean and very solid, and I was late. In that first set, I was late on a lot of shots and I wasn't able to play my tennis, so she was on top of me. And then I started figuring out a way to get into the match and started playing my game and started serving better so that I felt I could take control and not be under pressure the whole time. There was a lot times when she was returning so deep, she played me so deep, you know, there was nothing I could do. It was just like, Well done. If you can do that all day, all night, then credit to her. Which she was doing for pretty much the whole time. She was returning those balls really deep, like on the line. I would hit a serve like 110 miles per hours and it's coming in my shoe laces. So it's too good. I was having trouble getting those balls back and staying in the point. But other than that, you know, it was okay. The most important is to win the match and get another opportunity tomorrow to play. Q. What did you do to get her out of that? Because she wasn't hitting those balls deep. She was hitting volleys. JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. You know, I had to just stay in there and get those balls in whenever I had a chance that I could strike and play my shots and play what I do best. Q. Have you finished building your house here? JELENA JANKOVIC: The furniture is not there yet. I was there yesterday. Q. But the house itself is done completely? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, yeah. I actually have my phone here. I could show you pictures. I was there yesterday. (Laughing.) Q. So you have a pool, right? Entertainment center? What do you have? JELENA JANKOVIC: And a tennis court. Q. Oh, you do have a court? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I have a tennis court on one side of the house, and on the other side of the house is a pool. I was walking around there, and first of all, when I was entering there I was saying, I'm the owner. They were looking at me like, you're the owner? You're only like 27 years old. (Laughter.) They were looking at me like, Get out of here. You don't belong here. Q. So people were on your property? JELENA JANKOVIC: No, no. But you know, there is like an entrance... Q. So the neighbors were there? JELENA JANKOVIC: No, no, there was no neighbors. It's like an entrance, like a security gate. Q. Security. Oh. JELENA JANKOVIC: I had on like a cap and some sunglasses. No wonder. I don't think even my mom could recognize me dressed up like that. But it was funny. Then I got to my house and, you know, it was nice to see the improvement. I'm always on the road, so my dad is spending a lot time here helping out, helping with the work. You know, looks great so far. I am quite excited. Q. The court is completely done? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, you can actually play already. I don't have anywhere to sleep, so that's a problem. I can blow up a mattress and put it on the court. It's not too bad here in Lacosta, so I prefer ‑‑ I am having a good time playing golf, enjoying the weather. It's good. Q. So maybe you're going to move in in December? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, hopefully off‑season. Hopefully maybe I can train there. It's just so beautiful. Just traveling around here is amazing. It's just ‑‑ I really love it, so I cannot wait. Q. Is it in Rancho Santa Fe? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. And so as well I got to learn to play golf. I was playing the last couple days. I was driving around with the golf cart, and people are like, Aren't you playing the wrong sport? You're supposed to be on the tennis court. I'm trying to play and, you know, hopefully I can‑‑ when I finish my tennis career I can just enjoy it for recreation. You know, not ‑‑ obviously I cannot be a pro. It's too late and I'm no good at it. But for fun, I think it's a nice sport. Q. Is that going to be your primary residence? JELENA JANKOVIC: I think so. I am not sure. You know, while I'm playing I'm going to be all over the place. I'm traveling all the time. But when I stop, when I finish my career, probably going to spend a lot of time here. Q. How big is the home? JELENA JANKOVIC: You don't want to know. Q. Okay. It's large? JELENA JANKOVIC: It's too big. It's too big for my own good, so... Q. How many bedrooms and bathrooms? JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. Q. You must know the bedrooms. JELENA JANKOVIC: I think eight, but I'm not sure. Q. Five bathrooms maybe? JELENA JANKOVIC: I don't know. It's too big. I told you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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