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BNP PARIBAS OPENMarch 11, 2014Jelena JankovicINDIAN WELLS, CALIFORNIA J. JANKOVIC/C. Wozniacki THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Obviously a great win, especially given the track record you had recently against her. A bit of an unusual match: There were ten straight games you won there. What were seeing out there that you were doing well and maybe she wasn't? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, I lost to her the last I don't know how many times, but I think right now I am playing some pretty good tennis. I went on court, you know, trying to wait for my chances. Against her, if you go sometimes for too much you just make so many errors and you beat yourself. A lot of times it happened in the past. So I try to play solid and aggressive at the same time, wait for the right shots, and then execute. I did that pretty well. 3‑1 I kind of found my way, found my rhythm, and I was striking the ball very well out there and took control of the points. You know, I just did not let her play what she plays. That was very important. So I was pretty pleased with the way I played and how composed I stayed throughout the whole match. I kind of surprised myself, especially because of my back. Two nights ago I hurt my back, and yesterday did not hit at all. Had a lot of treatment. Could not put my shoes on and all these kind of things. So I went on court today not knowing how I was going to feel. You know, if I was going to be limited with my movement or if I was going to play my game. But I did, and I was surprised. I was so happy and pleased with how everything went. Q. How did your hurt your back? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah, it was in the third point of my match against Rybarikova. It was unfortunate. I was hitting a drive voluntarily and I felt something just click there and move out of place. I got completely stuck and it was spasm and I was in pain. I was just like ‑‑ I think that's how the body reacts when you hurt something in order not to go more. I was just so stiff. Then the next day, like I couldn't brush my teeth. I was putting the shoes on and I was kind of scared. I'm playing, you know, a big tournament and I'm playing really well. It was kind of unlucky that it was happening. The doctors and the physios have done great job. You know, I played today and I played pretty well. Q. Is it muscular or skeletal? JELENA JANKOVIC: Joint ‑‑ or some bones moved. I don't know. I'm not a chiropractor. That's not my job. But all I know is it does not feel great at all. It's so uncomfortable. It's not fun playing like that for sure. Q. How do you feel right now? JELENA JANKOVIC: I feel good right now. I'm going to receive some more treatment. It's important to take care of my body because it's still a little bit inflamed and takes some time for it to recover fully. So that's what I'm going to do next. Hopefully I feel even better tomorrow. Q. When you were younger, if you compare your game with your early 20s, do you think you're more aggressive now? JELENA JANKOVIC: I think so. I think I'm playing much better now than I did back in the years. I think I'm striking the ball better now than probably I ever did: quite clean and, you know, controlling the points a lot better. I think as well now that I'm a little bit older I'm kind of maturing and I think I'm using my shots a lot better. It's important to have fun, to enjoy your tennis. When it's the case like that then your shot selection is much better, your mind freer and you can‑‑ you have a lot more options than when you're maybe so nervous or frustrated or who knows, you have million things on your mind. You can kind of lose yourself on the court and not play well. So it's important to have that balance and do the right things. You know, when it's like that, then you're gonna go far. You're doing well. Q. With the early departure of Azarenka and Sharapova, you're now clearly one of the top favorites. Does this play against you or in your favor? JELENA JANKOVIC: Well, I've won this tournament in the past, in 2010, so I enjoy playing here. I'm just playing one match at a time. I have tough opponent ahead of me. I think from now on every opponent will be tougher and tougher. I just want to play, try to play my tennis the best I can and we'll see how it goes, how far I will go. Q. Did your back get so bad you thought you might not be able to play today? JELENA JANKOVIC: Yeah. Yesterday I was a little bit scared. I thought, Oh, my God, if it's going to be like this, like how was it yesterday‑‑ I think if I had to play yesterday I probably wouldn't able to go on court. Luckily I had that day off, which helped tremendously. So I was able to receive a lot of treatments and get adjusted and‑‑ because it gets inflamed. It does not go overnight. It does not just heal on its on in two hours and you're good to go. It takes time for your body to heal and get into the good place. So I'm feeling much better today. I was able to play at a high level, and hopefully ‑‑ I think with each day I'll get better and better be and very healthy. Q. So it felt very good when you woke up this morning? JELENA JANKOVIC: I was a little bit stiff this morning, and in I practice session I had just a light hit. I did not want to do so much. You know, received another treatment after my practice before I went on court just to make sure that I'm in good alignment, that I'm not off. Because in tennis, that's what we do: make sudden movements and move all over the place on the court. It's important to‑‑ that's why we have a team of professionals, physios and doctors, great doctors, that can help us and prepare us to go on court. Q. Do you follow the tournament when you're not playing? Did you watch Sharapova yesterday? JELENA JANKOVIC: I watched just a little bit. Like I said, I couldn't do much. I received my treatment, I was lying in bed and kind of watching TV and I watched a little bit of tennis, not much. I took a nap as well. Yeah, a lot of seeds went out yesterday. You know, it's unfortunate for the tournament, for the fans, but that's part of the sport. You know, we are all humans, and you can have bad days. You know, the other opponents can play such a great match. That's the fun of the sport. Q. Going back to the aggression issue, at what point to you realize that you wanted to become a more aggressive player? How much of it is convincing yourself to be an aggressive player? JELENA JANKOVIC: You know, I think over the years the game has been becoming more and more powerful, and you have to use‑‑ you have to work on your game, work on yourself. If you are not going to add new things to your game I think you're not going to go forward. You know, I improved quite a lot since last year, and I'm always looking to improve. I always believe there is room for improvement. So I started to play a little more aggressively but playing wise as much as I can and have a great shot selection. That's important. You don't want to just play so aggressively and make so many errors and beat yourself. You want to play as aggressive as much as you can and stay in control of each point. How much that is, that's what you kind of find your way and you do that. So you're in control but you're playing very aggressively so that your opponent cannot hurt you with anything. If you can do that, then you're in good shape. Q. Not picking on you here, but when is the last time you were at a tournament and you felt 100% healthy and no injuries? JELENA JANKOVIC: I was feeling good like the last‑‑ I mean, in Dubai, Doha I felt good. The only place I didn't feel good was Melbourne because I fell in the first round. I twisted the ankle and jammed my bone in the ankle. So that was it. But that's pretty much it. The whole last year I think‑‑ I don't know, even the physio told me in Melbourne when I called out for the physio that was probably the first time in probably a year that I called the physio on court. They were surprised because I never do that. And here is the second time. In the third point the match I‑‑ but that happens. You know I think we have long flights coming from Dubai, like 18 hours on the plane. That's not good for your back, your body are, for anything. It happens. You know, I been quite fortunate the last year that I didn't have anything major. Few pains here and there, but nothing big. You know, as well this is not big deal. The only thing is that I'm still in the tournament. I have to play and I don't have much time to recover. But we are doing our best, and I'm doing pretty well so far. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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