WTA Tour - Jankovic blasts Federer

Eurosport - Wed, 11 Feb 09:14:00 2009

Roger Federer should concentrate on his own career rather than criticising others, Serb Jelena Jankovic said after being irked by the Swiss master's unflattering verdict on her number one world ranking last year.

TENNIS Jelena Jankovic plays a shot during her fourth round tie at the 2009 Australian Open - 0

Last month, former world number one Federer hit out at the way the WTA rankings were calculated, saying a player who has never won a Grand Slam should not be granted the number one spot.

Jankovic reached the top spot in the WTA rankings in August having never won a major tournament. She lost her first Grand Slam final to American Serena Williams at last year's US Open.

The Serb has since dropped down to third in the world following a shock fourth-round defeat to France's Marion Bartoli at the Australian Open.

"To be honest, I do not like to talk about players, I really prefer to focus on myself," Jankovic said at the Paris Open.

She said she could not understand why Federer felt the need to hit out at women's tennis while his great rival Rafa Nadal, who took over from the Swiss as world number one, was so "humble".

"Why should he even care? I don't like putting my nose in other's business," Jankovic said.

"I mean, one thing I like about Nadal is that he is such a great champion, he is so humble, always has kind words for everybody, he is a role model for everybody.

"Federer is a great champion, I don't want to get in a fight with him but why does he care, I really don't understand. Why does he need to do that?"

Federer also led the charge against Jankovic's compatriot Novak Djokovic when he quit because of the heat in his Australian Open quarter-final match against Andy Roddick.

"I'm almost in favour of saying, you know what, if you're not fit enough, just get out of here," the Swiss said.

Jankovic said Federer should not criticise fellow players.

"I don't think it's nice to attack other players," Jankovic added.

"If he retired, he probably had his reasons, he knows better. You cannot attack someone when you don't have proof, when you don't have a piece of evidence.

"There is no reason to offend him that way."

Jankovic will open her Paris Open campaign with a first-round match against Italian Francesca Schiavone.

Reuters

Comment 143 - 162 of 162

Sort comments by: Most recent

  1. Now, you all imagine, if someone else was making these­ comments about Federer. Or if someone else cried like a­ baby after loosing a final. Why the heck Nadal needed­ to console him? Why could not he enjoy his moment. You­ all Fed fans, would you be so sympathetic to lets say­ Djokovic, or Nadal, or Murrey, or Tsonga, if they cried­ after loosing to Federer? Just be realistic. He said,­ he retired only once. So, if his back hurt second time,­ he would not retire? What would he do? Lay on the­ court? Fed is a typical case of Narcissistic­ Personality Disorder: sense of entitlement and­ grandiosity, the world revolves around them, lack of­ empaty. So long Fed fans, I used to be his fan. Not any­ more. He is just a trash, who happens to know a thing­ or two in tennis. And I wonder, he may just have been­ lucky, that for 4-5 years there were not other players­ of Nadal's, Djokovic's, Tsonga, Nurrey quality.­ If these guyd were around, he would not even be close­ to Sampras's numbers.

    From d_misita, on Fri 20 Feb 4:00AM

  2. i agree with fed

    From sidatmo, on Sat 14 Feb 10:15AM

  3. No need to be prude. People are always so quick to jump­ on anyone who voices an opinion. Let people be as they­ want and don't make it a character judgement. If­ Federer felt he needed to say something he should.­ Let's breath some fresh air into tennis. I'd be­ damned if JJ didn't go around trash talking. Also,­ JJ cries after every single point, so please don't­ demean Federer for doing so. As for his comment on­ Novak, Roger was saying the same thing that almost­ EVERY person watching that match was thinking. He just­ had the guts to say it.

    From pablotheagave, on Sat 14 Feb 5:56AM

  4. Federer critisized against WTA tour NOT agains ANY­ PLAYER.
    Jankovic should concentrate to win GS title­ instead of blaming Federer.

    From iku_chi2008, on Thu 12 Feb 12:14PM

  5. Please bear in mind that all that is concerned here is­ the ranking system. It refers to the points that each­ player gets in tours. The same system as with ATP. Some­ WTA players put JJ into No.1 because they did not­ perform well and unlucky in some tournaments while JJ­ has been very consistent though she's not winning­ in Grand Slams. We are talking about TENNIS here, a­ very modest sport. The culture within the sport­ provides discipline and respect towards players,­ officials, and system. I admire Roger but I thought he­ should be humble enough to deal with his character as a­ tennis player. Eventually, I think of him as a boxer,­ maybe he could trash talk to Mike Tyson if he really­ wants to. Or maybe to John McEnroe he he he... I­ don't know but I think Djokovic is better than­ Roger after all because of the age factor. But in any­ reason or another, no one has the right to criticize­ others' achievement or failure because it builds­ CHARACTER, Roger. I think Roger should apologize to JJ­ and Nole.

    From Melvin, on Thu 12 Feb 4:51AM

  6. Jankovic ??? WELL SAID. I agree totally in what she is­ saying, Roger is a great Champion but he needs to focus­ on his own game at the moment if he is going to match­ the great Sampras record or Beat it. Leave the Ladies­ to play their game, and the WTA to run it how they see­ fit.

    From Austin H, on Thu 12 Feb 4:18AM

  7. At least you are not a CRY BABY, Jelena he he he.. That­ is why Roger can;t break Sampras' record because­ Sampras is a descent champion he he he.

    From Melvin, on Thu 12 Feb 2:22AM

  8. Ok 1st of all, i dont tink its fair of Roger to­ criticise other players!! He should just concerntrate­ on what he has to do to beat Nadal again rather than­ stick his nose in other peoples business!!! Jelena­ needs to accept criticisms, after Roger is speaking the­ truth! She hasn won a slam b4 so she doesn really­ deserve to be No1!!! Lol!

    From akukzie, on Wed 11 Feb 10:03PM

  9. Ok, firstly, tennis is supposed to be a gentle sport­ full of respect. And we shouldn't be that­ fanatic... Both, Federer and Nadal are great players­ and we are lucky to watch tennis during this battle.­ But excuse me, you have to give Federer a break, ok? He­ had everything and now suddenly Nadal has come and­ taken top spot, Wimbledon etc from him. This isn't­ easy so he may overreact some times. Don't be such­ rough criticisers cause at some point Rafa may live­ similar situations in some months or years. I am a­ Federer fan, yes, and would like to see him balancing­ again, yes but I disagreed with some of his reactions.­ But we all have our ups and downs, right?? And last but­ not least, remember that the press sometimes goes over­ the top...

    From ilemossoglou_maria, on Wed 11 Feb 10:01PM

  10. Who said women's tennis is a joke? The joke is how­ very typical some of your comments are. And how­ pathetic. Any of those girls could slap you silly.

    From catalina, on Wed 11 Feb 9:10PM

  11. Any1 but RODRER can talk about other player,s at least­ they DON,T CRY because they didn,t win, SHAME ON HIM­ for talking about other,s who should and who should not­ come on the court.He hate,s all Serb players for­ winning or not. At least THEY DON,T C R Y they have­ pride not to do that.realy Rodger get your act together­ you ware no.1 and you are the past now Nadal is the­ best and he is young he will be ther 4 a long time.GO­ NADAL GO

    From mozekakodane, on Wed 11 Feb 8:40PM

  12. It's a free world and Roger is entitled to an­ opinion on any topic. Jelena should try not to make it­ a personal issue but should rather concentrate on the­ issue raised. Personally, I believe that one does not­ have to win a major to become no. 1 in either men's­ or women's tennis. It's the points that add up,­ not the majors. Any player that can gather enough­ points to become no. 1 has what it takes to win a major­ and should win one in due course.

    From Ebere, on Wed 11 Feb 6:40PM

  13. ALL ENGLISH FOOTBALL
    PREMIER LEAGUE – FA CUP – CARLING­ CUP
    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE – UEFA CUP

    ALL MATCHES ON WEB: ­ PREMIER LEAGUE, FA CUP, CHAMPIONSHIP, CARLING CUP, ­ LIGA, SERIE A, BUNDESLIGA, CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - UEFA CUP­ AND MUCH MORE

    ALL THE HIGH-LIGHTS OF PREMIER LEAGUE­ MATCHES

    From , on Wed 11 Feb 5:24PM

  14. jankovic do not complain and stop whining show them­ your worth...beat your opponent to win GS...to rank­ yourself among tennis great...but not in the list of­ world number one wihtout GS title...that´s another­ story...most important is for you to listen to tennis­ great and federer is one of them..... he just touched­ your wound and now you shout of pain...isn´t it???­ common get up or pack up court or home...choose one

    From JOMA, on Wed 11 Feb 5:08PM

  15. SHUT UP JANKOPIG FEDERER IS THE GREATEST RAFA FANS KNOW­ NOTHING ABOUT TENNIS. RAFA PICKS HIS @#$%, AND JANKO­ CAN'T WIN @#$%.

    From christoffercirillo, on Wed 11 Feb 4:33PM

  16. Fine. Federer probably should not have said it in that­ way, but also he should not be bothered. He needs to­ concentrate on his game rather than others. I can see­ why he is saying that because the greats reach world­ number 1, like himself, McEnroe, Borg, Sampras,­ Aggassi, these are all greats but the womens game is­ clearly dominated by the Williams' so it doesnt­ matter if Jelena was number 1, it was a short time, a­ very short time. If your not a 'great' you wont­ be there for long.

    From james, on Wed 11 Feb 4:14PM

  17. seriously lets call a spade a spade..women tennis is­ really boring to watch..in my opinion anyone can be­ number one in women's tennis any day any time..just­ by winning a few games.. its really not as competitive­ as the men's.

    From agyekumwaa98, on Wed 11 Feb 3:38PM

  18. Women's tennis is a joke. You get all these nobody­ number ones, but as soon as Serena Williams tries she­ humiliates them all.

    From Loz, on Wed 11 Feb 1:43PM

  19. The first thing that Federer should learn is not to cry­ when he loses to someone obviously better. He was never­ modest and his arrogance is miles away from­ Jelena's spontaneity and genuine.

    From Goran, on Wed 11 Feb 12:50PM

  20. who says nadal wasnt in his best for years ago?he was­ just that he only liked clay better.If roger was in­ good shape last year he would have won the aussie open­ instead of that cheat Djokovic

    From ede o, on Wed 11 Feb 12:24PM
Sort comments by: Most recent

Not already a Yahoo! user ? to get a free Yahoo! Account