THE WORLD PORTAL

JELENA JANKOVIC

Former World no.1 Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic is the new owner of the ‘Indian Wells title’. In ‘Indian Wells’ final, she defeated World no.2 player Caroline Wozniacki with the score 6-2 6-4 and gained her first Indian Wells title

BIOGRAPHY

Jelena Jankovic was born on 28th February 28, 1985 in Belgrade, Serbia as the daughter of economists Veselin and Snezana Jankovic. She was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko at the age of 9.  She turned into professional tennis player in 2000 and she showed wonderful performance in tennis at the junior level. She won ‘junior Australian Open Championship’ in 2001. In 2003, she reached in 90th rank position by winning the first ‘ITF title’ in Dubai. In 2004 season, she defeated top twenty players including Nadia Petrova  Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder and Paola Suarez and finished that season with rank no 28 in the world. Jankovic gained her greatest achievment in her tennis career in 2008. At the end of that year, she was the World no 1 tennis player and she remained that position until she was overtaken by Serena Williams on February, 2009. She is the first No. 1 tennis player  in the history of the WTA tour who has not yet won a singles Grand Slam title. Now, she is ranked World No.9 position. In addition, she has reached the singles final of the ‘US Open’ and the singles semifinals of the ‘Australian Open’ and the ‘French Open’. In 2007, she won the ‘Wimbledon mixed doubles title’ with British partner Jamie Murray and she became the first Serbian player to win a Grand Slam Title. Jankovic is often regarded as one of the fittest and toughest players in women’s tennis. She is expert in all surfaces. Her stamina is incredible and she can play more matches than any other women tennis player in the world. “Jelenin svet” is a documentary about her life, which features Jankovic and other notable players such as Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova and Ana Ivanovic. She was the UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador for Serbia alongside Ana Ivanovic, Aleksandar Djordjevic and Emir Kusturica in 2007. In addition, she had made endorsement deals with ‘Reebok’ sportswear, ‘Anta Sports’, ‘Prince Sports’, ‘Aqua Viva Hydroactive’ Water, etc. .

SHAHAR PEER

Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer will be competing with defending champion and 3rd seed Venus Williams in the semi final of the ‘2010 Dubai Tennis Championship’. She reached in the semi final of this Championship by beating 10th seed Na Li of China in the quarterfinal match. In this match, when Peer is leading with 7-5, 3-0 score, then Na Li retired from the match due to back pain. She reached in the quarter final by defeating 13th seed Yanina Wickmayer in the first round,Virginie Razzano in the second round and World No. 3 and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the third round. Peer is the first Israeli to compete in the United Arab Emirates, and she holds World No.22 rank in tennis.

BIOGRAPHY

Israeli right handed tennis player Shahar Peer was born on 1st May 1987 in Jerusalem, Israel as the daughter of Dovik and Aliza. She started to playing tennis at the age of six and at the age of twelve, she won her first title ‘Eddie Herr International Doubles’ title with Nicole Vaidisova. In 2001, she became the youngest Israeli tennis player ever to win the Israeli women’s tennis championship, and also she won 55th annual Ericsson Orange Bowl International Tennis Championships under-14 girls’ title. She made a tremendous achievement in ‘2004 Australian Open’ by winning the juniors’ championship. Peer turned into professional in 2004 and in 2005, she reached in the third round of the French Open and the U.S. Open. She became the first Israeli woman to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam event in ‘2007 Australian Open’ championship. However, in the quarter final, she was defeated by Serena Williams. She reached in the quarter final of the ‘2007 US Open’, but she was defeated by Anna Chakvetadze in the quarter final of the championship. Peer also participated in ‘2008 Beijing Olympics’, but she lost in the second round. She did not play in ‘2009 Dubai Tennis Championships’, because she was denied a visa by the United Arab Emirates which does not have diplomatic relations with Israel. Many famous tennis players including Venus Williams opposed the decision of Arab government. Peer reached in the semi final of ‘2010 ASB Classic’ and lost in the semi-finals to Yanina Wickmayer. In ‘2010 Australian Open’, she reached in the third round, but she was defeated by 4th seed Caroline Wozniacki. After that, her ranking position raised to 22. Now in ongoing ‘2010 Dubai Tennis Championships’, she reached in the semi final by defeating 10th seed Na Li of China in the quarterfinal match. In the semi final, she will face defending champion and 3rd seed Venus Williams.