Jankovi? learned her first tennis skills in Tennis Club 'Red Star'.[1] As a nine-and-a-half year old she was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko. She was later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior she won the 2001 Australian Open. In 2001, she started to play on the WTA Tour; she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters.

In October 2003, Jankovi? entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three months later, Jankovi? garnered her first top 10 win against Elena Dementieva 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. She then lost to Jill Craybas in three sets in the second round. In May, Jankovi? won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Suchá in the final 7-6, 6-3. Following her win in Budapest, she reached No. 51 in the world. Elsewhere in her 2004 season, she defeated top 20 players Nadia Petrova (twice), Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder and Paola Suárez. Jankovi? finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.

2005 is considered Jankovi?'s breakthrough season. In March, at Dubai, she advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Jankovi? then lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. She made her first Tier I semifinal in Berlin, losing to Nadia Petrova 6-4, 6-7, 6-3. In June, she reached her first grass court final at Birmingham, but lost to Maria Sharapova 6-2, 4-6, 6-1. In October, Jankovi? reached her third final of the year in Seoul, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at that time, losing to 16-year-old Nicole Vaidišová 7-5, 6-3. Her ranking at the end of the season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22.

In 2006, Jankovi? lost ten straight matches, not winning a match from late January into early May. She reached the quarterfinals of the Rome Masters before losing to Venus Williams in three sets. She reached the semi-finals in Strasbourg, retiring against Nicole Vaidišová in the second set.

At the French Open, she upset the Number 25 seed Marion Bartoli before losing to World No. 1 Amélie Mauresmo 6-3, 6-3. At Wimbledon, she stunned defending champion Venus Williams in three sets in the 3rd round, on the "Graveyard Court," a win many cite as a turning point in Jankovic's career. She then lost to Anastasia Myskina 6-4, 7-6.

Following her run at Wimbledon, she reached her fifth career final at the JPMorgan Chase Open, defeating Sania Mirza, Ana Ivanovi?, and then Serena Williams in the semifinal, becoming the only player in 2006 to defeat both Williams sisters. Ultimately, she lost to Elena Dementieva in the final. The final outcome was 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. In the third set, Dementieva was actually leading 5-0 before some spirited play and aggressive shot-making earned Jankovi? the next four games. However, she was unable to even the score and fell short.

At the 2006 U.S. Open, Jankovi? defeated Vaidišová in the third round, defeated 2004 US Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth, and beat 2004 US Open and French Open finalist Elena Dementieva 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal, she lost to Justine Henin-Hardenne 4-6, 6-4, 6-0, after having been up 6-4 4-2, and one point away from 5-2 in the match. Jankovi? appeared to lose her focus after arguing with the chair umpire when the umpire refused to offer an opinion as to whether a service call had been correct, suggesting that Jankovi? could use one of her electronic challenges. After the self-induced distraction, Jankovi? lost ten consecutive games and a chance to make the final.

At Jankovi?'s first tournament following the U.S. Open, she reached the semifinals at the Tier II China Open, losing to Amélie Mauresmo 6-1, 3-6, 7-6. At 6-5 in the third, Jankovi? served for the match, but was broken at 15-40. After Beijing, Jankovi? made the Guangzhou semifinal, retiring against Anna Chakvetadze 0-2 in the second. Then, in her last four events of the year, she reached the quarterfinals three times, losing to Kuznetsova, Vaidišová and Poutchkova, respectively.

Due to her success in the latter part of the year, Jankovi? finished the season ranked just outside the Top 10, at No. 12.

To begin the year, Jankovi? won her second title at the Tier IV ASB Classic in Auckland, defeating Vera Zvonareva in the final. At the Tier II Medibank International in Sydney, Jankovi? defeated World No. 7 Martina Hingis and top-seeded Amélie Mauresmo on the way to the final. There, she lost to Kim Clijsters after Jankovi? served for the match in the second set.[2] She then reached the fourth round of the Australian Open, where she was eliminated by the eventual champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-2. Because of her results at these tournaments, her ranking rose to World No. 10, the first time she had been included in the top ten.

At the first Tier I event of the year in Tokyo, Jankovi? lost in the quarterfinals to countrywoman Ana Ivanovi? 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, she retired from her semifinal match with Mauresmo because of an ankle injury. The following week in Doha, Jankovi? again reached the semifinals, losing to Justine Henin in three sets. To complete the spring hard court season, Jankovi? lost in the third round of the Tier I tournament in Key Biscayne, Florida to Italian Mara Santangelo 2-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Jankovi? then started her clay court season at Amelia Island, Florida, where she lost in the quarterfinals to Ivanovi? 7-5, 6-3. She then won her first career Tier I title, at the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina, defeating Venus Williams in the semifinals 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 and Dinara Safina in the final. On European red clay, Jankovi? then lost to Henin three times and won one tournament. At the J&S Cup in Warsaw, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-5, 2-6, 6-4. At the Qatar Telecom German Open, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the quarterfinals 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 after failing to hold a 4-0 lead in the third set. Jankovi? next won her second career Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. Jankovi? was the fourth seed at the French Open. She defeated Venus Williams and Nicole Vaidišová, among others, before falling to Henin in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2. Her results at these six clay court tournaments increased her ranking to World No. 3.

On grass, Jankovi? captured the DFS Classic title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova led 3-0 in the third set before Jankovi? rallied to win the match. This was her first career victory over Sharapova. The next week, Jankovi? reached the final of the Ordina Open in the Netherlands and became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in the first half of a year. Jankovi?, suffering from a hamstring injury, lost the final to Anna Chakvetadze. At Wimbledon, Jankovi? was the third-seed but lost in the fourth round to Marion Bartoli of France 3-6, 7-5, 6-3. In the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon, Jankovi? teamed with doubles specialist Jamie Murray to win the title by beating the fifth-seed team, Jonas Björkman and Alicia Molik, in the final 6-4, 3-6, 6-1.

During the North American summer hard court season, Jankovi? lost in the third round of the Tier I Acura Classic in San Diego. Jankovi? blamed her loss on the flu. In spite of her illness, she reached the semifinals of the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California the next week, falling to Ivanovi?. Jankovi? said, "I cannot expect myself to play my best tennis when I am still blowing my nose on each changeover with paper towels." In August, Jankovi? reached the final of the Tier I Rogers Cup in Toronto, where she lost to Henin on Henin's sixth match point. Jankovi? had led 4-1 in the first set and 4-2 in the second set but was unable to maintain her lead. At the U.S. Open, Jankovi? lost to Venus Williams in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-1, 7-6(4).

To complete her hectic playing year, Jankovi? traveled to Asia for two tournaments, Europe for one tournament, back to Asia for one tournament, and finally back to Europe for two tournaments.

At the Commonwealth Bank Tennis Classic in Bali, Jankovi? was upset in the quarterfinals by former World No. 1 Lindsay Davenport 6-4, 2-6, 6-2. This was Davenport's first singles tournament since giving birth. The following week at the China Open in Beijing, Jankovi? received a wildcard into the tournament after top-ranked Henin withdrew due to illness. In the second round, Jankovi? defeated Virginia Ruano Pascual 6-0, 6-0, the third time in her career she had won a match without losing a game. Jankovi? lost only four points during the second set, all on her own serve. In the semifinals, Jankovi? beat Davenport 6-3, 7-5 but lost in the final to Hungarian teenager Ágnes Szávay after Jankovi? had a match point in the second set.

After a two week break, Jankovi? then played three consecutive weeks but won only two matches. At the Tier II tournament in Stuttgart, Jankovi? lost to Henin in the semifinals 7-6(2), 7-5. Jankovi? then retired from her first round match in Bangkok with Yan Zi. After a first round bye at the Zürich Open, Jankovi? lost to Vaidišová 6-4, 6-4.

Jankovi? took a three week break before playing the year-ending WTA Tour Championships in Madrid. However, Jankovi? lost all three of her round robin matches, to Henin, Chakvetadze, and Bartoli (retiring in the second set after losing the first set).

Jankovi? had successful nose surgery immediately after Madrid to correct a breathing problem. The surgery prevented her from practicing for three weeks.

Jankovi? stated that she would cut back on her schedule during 2008 and focus on Grand Slam and Tier I events.

Instead of defending her title in Auckland, Jankovi? joined Novak ?okovi? in playing for Serbia in the Hopman Cup, an exhibition team event sanctioned by the International Tennis Federation. In the final, Jankovi? and ?okovi? lost to the American team of Serena Williams and Mardy Fish, with Jankovi? unable to play her singles rubber because of injury.

In her final preparation event for the Australian Open, the Medibank International in Sydney, Jankovi? lost in the third round to Nicole Vaidišová.

Her first match at the Australian Open was against Tamira Paszek, which Jankovi? won 2-6, 6-2, 12-10 in three hours, fifteen minutes. Both players needed medical attention during the final set. Jankovi? then reached the quarterfinals for the first time, defeating defending champion Serena Williams 6-3, 6-4. In her third career Grand Slam singles semifinal, Jankovi? lost to Maria Sharapova 6-3, 6-1.

--Wikipedia