Serbians
So remember 2007-2008 when the Serbians came out of nowhere and established themselves at top players in the world and took over for that short time period.
2007 seemed to be their break out year for all of them. Ill start off on the women’s side.
Ana Ivanovic:
In 2007 Ana provide to the tennis world she was a great competitor and reached the top 10 for the first time in her career by defeating World No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final to win in Berlin. She showed some champion form by reaching the final of the French open where she lost to eventual champion Justine Henin. She went on to lose in the semis at Wimbledon to three-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and then lost to her again at the us open in the fourth round. She finished the year ranked No. 4 in the world.
In 2008 Ana continued her great form by reaching the final of the Australian open where she lost in the final to Maria Sharapova. Her ranking rose to World No. 2 as a result of her performance at the tournament, the highest of her career at the time. Ivanović was the number 2 seed at the French Open. She defeated World No. 3 Jelena Janković in a thrilling encounter in the semifinals, where Ivanovic sealed a shaky 6–4, 3–6, 6–4 win, guaranteeing that Ivanović would become the World No. 1, regardless of whether she won the final. Ivanović still went on to defeat Dinara Safina in the final, in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3, winning her first Grand Slam singles title. Everything seemed great she had reached had reach the final of the first two grand slams and had finally won her first. No one expected what was to come from such a great win.
Winning a slam totally destroyed Ana ivonovic. At Wimbledon she lost in the third round against Zheng Jie and at the US Open she lost in the second round to Julie coin.
It seemed like Ana had lost some confidence at the second half of 2008. Fan sure hoped that she would be able to come back strong in 2009, but things just got worse. At 2009 Australian Open Ana lost in a shocking third round to Alias Klybanova. She struggled to win a title and hoped that she would be able to defend her title at the French. Again she lost earlier in the fourth round to Vika. Things did not get better at Wimbledon where she lost to Venus Williams in a crushing 1-6 1-0 lose. She did retire in the second set because of injury. She followed up a bad year at the grand slams by losing in the first round of the US Open to Kateryna Bondarenko after having match point in the final set. Ivanović only reached three quarterfinals, one semi-final and final and only won back-to-back matches six times. Ivanović ended the year ranked 21, the first time she had been ranked outside the Top 20 since July 2005.
Know its 2010 and fans were hoping that Ana would finally show why she won the French open back in 2008, but things just continue to be a struggle for her. At the Australian open she lost in the second round to Gisela Dulko. At the 2010 Indian Wells she lost in first round becoming her 4 consecutive losses causing her to fall to number 58 in the world. In her first clay court event of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Ivanović suffered yet another opening round exit at the hands of the 5th seed Radwańska. She then showed some positive signs at the 2010 internazionali BNL d’italia getting to the semis. At this years French she again suffered an early exit to Alias Kleybanova in the second round. Then lost 1st round of Wimbledon to Peer causing her to fall to 64 in the world. At this years US Open she again showed some signs of positivity until she meet a real match against Kim and lost in a crushing 6-2 6-1.
She is currently playing some tournaments in Asia and will crack the top 30. What do you guys think will she ever be a contender for a grand slam again? Or can she ever be a top 10 player again?
Jelena Jenkovic:
2007 Jelena Jenkovic become a top ten player after losing in the fourth round to Serena Williams. She went on to defeat Dinara Safina in the final to win the first Tier I title of her career at the family circle cup. Janković won her second career Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. This result meant she entered the top five on the world rankings for the first time. Janković was the fourth seed at the French Open and one of the favorites for the title. Reaching the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career but lost there to eventual champion Henin 6–2, 6–2. This improved her ranking to a new career-high of World No. 3. On grass, Janković captured the DFS Classic title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. At Wimbledon, Janković was the third seed but lost in the fourth round to the surprise eventual finalist Marion Bartoli, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3. At the US Open, Janković lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 4–6, 6–1, 7–6(4).
In 2008 was ready to prove why she was a top player. Janković lost in the semifinal of the Australian Open to Maria Sharapova 6–3, 6–1. In March, at the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, Janković lost in the semifinals to fellow Serb Ana Ivanović 7–6(3), 6–3. The following fortnight, Janković reached her first final of the year at the Miami Masters, losing to Serena Williams 6–1, 5–7, 6–3. With a great clay court season Jelena again was one of the favorite to win the French Open However, she lost to eventual champion Ivanović 6–4, 3–6, 6–4, after leading by a break in the third set. She went on to lose in the fourth round of Wimbledon. Janković did eventually replace Ivanović as the World No. 1 on August 11, 2008. She was determined to prove why she was number one and did by reaching her first grand slam final at the US Open, where she lost to Serena Williams after having 4 set points in the second set.
At the beginning of 2009 Jelena had told the media how much she had trained during her break and was a new player with more muscle mass and more confidence. So of course there were high expectation for the new Jelena Jankovic who said she would dominate 2009. Like her follow Serbian compatriot 2009 did not start very well. At the Australian Open Jelena lost in the 4th round to Marion Bartoli. The only thing this match showed was that Jelena had lost her timing and footwork with this newfound muscle she had built during her break. Jelena had a first round bye at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded third. She was upset by Kaia Kanepi in the third round, 6–2, 7–5, in what she called "the worst match of my career" then lost in second round at Indian wells. Beginning her spring clay court season at the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain, Janković defeated fifth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets for her first title of 2009. Seeded fifth at the French Open, she lost to Sorana Cîrstea of Romania in the fourth round, 3–6, 6–0, 9–7, despite serving for the match in the third set at 5–4. At Wimbledon she suffered another shocking lose and this time to American Melanie Oudin in the third round. In the final grand slam of the year where she had previously reached the final Jelena suffered a shock second round defeat to Yaroslava Shvedova 6–3, 6–7(4), 7–6(6) despite having match points in the third set tie-break. Her ranking decreased to World No. 8. What was supposed to be her best year turned out to be one of her worst as a top player.
This year the tennis world was not sure what to expect form Jelena. She did not start the year very well. She suffered another early round exit at a grand slam by losing to Alyona Bondarenko in the third round. Jelena lost in the first round at the 2010 Monterrey Open, where she was the top seed. Next, she traveled to Indian Wells, California for the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. At the tournament, she was seeded sixth and defeated Caroline Wozniacki 6–2, 6–4 to take the title. This was Jelena’s first big title in a while. At the French she reached the semis and lost to Sam Stousr. At Wimbledon she retired in the 4th round to Vera. Jankovic then traveled to New York to play in the 2010 US Open where she was seeded No. 4. She was defeated by Kaia Kanepi in the third round, losing 6-2, 7-6(1).
Unlike Ana Ivanovic Jelena has been able to stay in the top 10 but both players have struggled to make it past the first week of most tournaments and grand slams. Can either recover their 2007-2008 forms or improve their consistency in tournaments.
Novak Djokovic:
In 2007 Novak Djokovic reach the fourth round of the Australian open where he lost to Roger Federer. He went on to have a great season and reached his first major just like Ana Ivanovic at the US Open. He lost the Roger Federer in the final in straight sets. He had established himself as a top player and a contender for majors.
In 2008 he won his first grand slam after defeating Roger Federer in the semi-finals. He also reached the semi-finals at Roland Gerros. Djoker suffered a shocking lost to Marat Safin in the second round of Wimbledon. This ended a streak of five consecutive grand slams where he had reached at least he semifinals. Djokovic entered the US Open as the third seed. Djokovic took several injury breaks during matches in the tournament prompting a quip from Andy Roddick that the Serb has "16 injuries". However Djoker shut Andy up by defeating him in the quarterfinals but lost in the semis to eventual champion Roger Federer. At the 2009 Australian Open Novak was unable to defend his title by retiring to Andy Roddick in the quarterfinals.
2010 hoped for a better year in grand slams for Novak. At the Australian Open, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in five sets, 6–7(8), 7–6(5), 6–1, 3–6, 1–6. At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, he lost in the fourth round to the eventual champion Ivan Ljubičić 5–7, 3–6. At the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, he suffered a shock loss, losing his opening match to Olivier Rochus 2–6, 7–6(7), 4–6. At the French lost in the quarters. At Wimbledon Novak showed that he could get further in grand slams and reached his first Semi final at a grand slam thus far but lost in the semis to Tomas Berdych. At the US open he lost in the final to nandal.
He recently just won a tournament and seems to be back on track, can he ever win a grand slam again? if yes which one do you guys thing he can win?
Rising Serbian stars:
Serbian star.
