Former world No1 Jelena Jankovic is targeting a return to the finals of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, the Serbian revealed after the draw was announced on Saturday at the Majlis hall at the Dubai Tennis Stadium.
Jankovic, who is ranked No8 this week in Dubai, has had much success in the Emirate having made the finals in 2005, where she lost to Lindsay Davenport, and reaching the semi-finals on three occasions including last year.
“I’ve played finals here, last year I did semis, but you know I’d like to reach the final again,” said Jankovic. “It would be nice.
“I will try my best. It’s a tough draw, so many great players in the draw and there’s going to be a lot of competition.”
The 26-year-old, who has a residency in Dubai and spends a lot of time in the UAE, faces Czech world No30 Petra Cetkovska in the opening round of the tournament, and is seeded No8 in a draw that features six of the world’s top-ten tennis players, headlined by No1 Victoria Azarenka.
The Belarusian has a bye in the first round but faces a potentially daunting second round encounter against either last year’s runner-up Svetlana Kuznetsova or Germany’s Julia Goerges, who together form one of the hottest match-ups in the opening round this week.
Defending champion and No3 seed Caroline Wozniacki is drawn to possibly face Azarenka in the semi-finals, but the Dane might first need to get past a tricky second round match in the form of world No15 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.
Second seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova returns to action after pulling out of the Qatar Open last week with an injury, and she has a potential second round meeting with Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova.
Kvitova could face Jankovic or No4 seed Sam Stosur in the semi-finals.
With the top three in the world now – Azarenka, Kvitova and Wozniacki – all 22 years old and under, Jankovic explained how it’s getting harder to beat those young ladies on a regular basis. “It’s getting tougher and tougher and as well I’m getting older and older,” joked Jankovic.
“There’s a change in generation. There are a lot of young girls coming up on the Tour which I know are playing great tennis.
“Some of the older ones that I used to play with they’re either retired or they’re going away so I’m kind of in between even though I’m 26 years old.
“So it’s a change but it’s nice to see new faces and I still enjoy competing and I just want to try to do my best and it doesn’t matter who’s on the other side of the net.”
The main draw action starts tomorrow with qualifying rounds resuming today.
Tickets for the event are available from the Box Office at the Dubai Tennis Stadium, Garhoud which opens from 9am to 9pm daily. Grandstand tickets can also be bought online at http://www.timeouttickets.com
