Jelena Jankovic def. Vera Zvonareva 6-4, 6-4

By Christopher N Rourke
October 30 2004

The match began with an outstanding pass off the backhand a Jankovic winner that not even Zovonareva could retrieve. This set the tone for a dramatic match in which the brilliant Jankovic unveiled the full range of her talent, including a full-blooded all-court game and extraordinary movement.

Jancovic achieved her break with startling ease, pre-empting a ripple of surprise from the crowd. She then backed up the break, serving two aces, for a comfortable hold. There followed a very tight third game on Zvonareva’s serve, in which Jankovic’s destructive shots flowed, taking her deuce and then advantage, before Zvonareva dug in hard, clinging on after several deuces. It wasn’t as though Zvonareva was playing poorly ­she was playing well ­

Jankovic was simply playing superlative tennis. A frustrated and ill-tempered Zvonareva took out her frustration on a hapless ball boy after successive winners from Jankovic. In the fourth game Jankovic further asserted herself with
excellent movement off hers serve, moving sinuously from attack to defence and then to attack, unleashing some stunning backhands: 3-1 Jankovic. By the fifth game the apparently more powerful Zvonareva was doing a lot of retrieving just to stay in the points; that she managed to hold her serve says a lot about her capacity for endurance. At 4-3 Jankovic delighted the crowd with a single-handled backhand retrieval shot,which died in Zvonareva’s forecourt.

At 5-3, and under terrific pressure once again, Zvonareva managed to hold ­ but not before Jankovic forced a another long deuce game through a combination of touch and power, including some gorgeous drop shots. This meant that Jankovic had to serve out the match, not an easy task against for a qualifier playing a top fifteen-ranked player. Jankovic played three loose points to fall 0-40 behind on her service, and for a few nervous minutes seemed as though order might be restored to the higher ranked player. However, two excellent shots brought Jankovic back to 30-40. An ace took her deuce. Jankovic would not be denied and took the set 6-4.


Jankovic held in the second game before breaking in the third; her outstanding all-court ability swamping Zvonareva; in the fourth game Jankovic held again with some excellent play to back up the break: 3-1 Jankovic. Zvonareva demonstrated some steely resolve to break for the first time in the match and level the set at 3-3, before Jankovic, sending danger, broke right back to 4-3. When Jankovic held to 5-3, in an excellent service game, employing marginally more conservative play, there could only be one winner: Jankovic served out 6-4 6-4 with some aplomb.


Zvonareva played her part in this match, always trying to fight back to parity, but the day belonged to Jankovic, who played some of the best tennis on the Tour this year, in this match. This must give confidence to the nineteen-year-old Jankovic, who was an unknown quantity at the start of year, before announcing her arrival by comprehensively defeating Elena Dementieva in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. Her game seems to improve with every month and ­in a sport in which many of the leading exponents lack a faceted, varied game ­Jankovic should flourish in the next few months on Tour. A top twenty ranking beckons.