Jelena Jankovic, the former World No. 1 professional tennis player has pulled out of Japan Women’s Open due to an injured left hip.
Apparently, the hip injury seems to have occurred during the Sunday’s China Open women’s final. The Serbian national felt enough pain to request a pause in the tournament during the second set in order to receive medical treatment.
Jankovic eventually lost to the muscular and aggressive Serena Williams who pummeled through the match with a stunning 6-2, 6-2 win. The reigning queen of tennis world broke the now eighth-seeded Balkan heroine thrice in the second set and twice in the first to claim a phenomenal 73rd win of the season.
Although Jankovic was clearly disappointed, she had this to say after receiving the runner’s up trophy and the $430,365 prize money:
Bye bye Beijing! Thank you so much for the support! Love you guys
— Jelena Jankovic (@jelena_jankovic) October 7, 2013
Jelena, 28, has been very upbeat lately as her position in the ATP rankings has steadily risen over the last year. On September 9, when she climbed her way back into top 10, she tweeted:
Back to the top 10 baby!
— Jelena Jankovic (@jelena_jankovic) September 9, 2013
Jankovic is only the second player in WTA history to garner an year-end world no. 1 ranking without winning a single Grand Slam singles title. The other player is Kim Clijsters. To date, Jelena has won a total of $15+ million in prize money during her professional career, and it looks like she still has a few years left in her.
So how long will the hip injury keep Jelena away from the tennis court. We do not know for sure, but her latest tweet suggests that she is going to participate in the WTA championships at Istanbul after two weeks.
So excited to be going to Istanbul, my 5th championships! Yeaaaa
— Jelena Jankovic (@jelena_jankovic) October 7, 2013
According to the latest update from the Istanbul WTA, “Jelena Jankovic …qualified for the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships – Istanbul 2013, to be held from October 22 to 27 – two weeks away…The Top 8 singles players and Top 4 doubles teams will compete in Istanbul for a record-setting $6 million prize money purse and the most prestigious title on the WTA calendar after the Grand Slams…Only one spot in the eight-player singles field remains, and the four doubles spots are all filled up.”
We wish Jelena Jankovic the very best and hope she wins this time around.
[picture from youtube]