Future Tennis Stars

We thought Jelena had a chance, Chakvetadze didn’t. Jelena Jankovic’s last hopes of taking a big title home this year have been dashed by Anna Chakvetadze. Anna took the first set 6-4 then got blanked 6-0 in the second before closing Jankovic out in the third 6-3. Jelena certainly had her chances but served poorly especially in the big moments.

Chakvetadze finishes with a 2-1 win/loss record while Jankovic fell to 0-2. Jelena’s last chance to get a win will be against Marion Bartoli on Friday.

Jelena Jankovic needs a win to stay alive and to put Anna Chakvetadze on the hot seat. It isn’t looking promising.

Jankovic dropped the first set 6-4, serving at 67% but winning only 18% of her second serve points. Each player has 1 double fault but Jankovic was broken twice.

It isn’t all bad news, as Chakvetadze opened the second set with 2 double faults and Jankovic broke to take the lead and held to go up 2-0.

In a result that should surprise no one, Justine Henin beat Marion Bartoli 6-0, 6-0 to be a perfect 3-0 in round robin play on Thursday. The loss for Bartoli effectively ends her stay in Madrid.

Up shortly, Jelena Jankovic will play Anna Chakvetadze. If Jankovic wins, she will be level at 1 win and 1 loss and will still need to beat Bartoli to reach the semifinals. If Chakvetadze wins, she will be at 2-1 and it will be over for both Jankovic and Bartoli who would both be 0-2.

Maria Sharapova beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 on Thursday and with the win, both her and Ana Ivanovic reached the semifinals. Both Sharapova and Ivanovic have 2-0 win/loss records while Kuznetsova and Daniela Hantuchova are 0-2. Sharapova and Ivanovic will still play each other while Kuznetsova will play Hantuchova.

The season isn’t over yet but Jelena Jankovic was given the ACES award for 2007. The ACES award goes to “the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote women’s tennis in the media, the community and beyond.”

“I am honoured and delighted to receive this award,” Jankovic said. “Tennis has been the joy of my life and I am very happy to be able to give back to the sport and help it grow. I am looking forward to participating in the ACES program again next year and hope to be able to make a larger difference on and off the court.”

The WTA Tour keeps points for this award and Jankovic accumulated 660 points. Ana Ivanovic was second with 425, Justine Henin had 395 and Tatiana Golovin was fifth with 335.

Serena Williams just couldn’t overcome a knee injury and pulled out of the season ending WTA Championships.

Williams dropped the first set against Anna Chakvetadze 6-4 and said afterward her knee was sore to begin with and got worse as the match went on. This result puts Bartoli in a hole now down 0-1 for round robin play and even though they played one set, she is down 0-2 for the events so far. Bartoli will play tomorrow against Justine Henin and even though she beat Henin at Wimbledon, don’t count on a repeat performance.