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.
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.
Comment 123 - 142 of 162
When Jelena Jankvic wins a title of importance such as the Olympics or a Grand Slam, she'll have some authority on this matter.
all the Serbs can whine and cry about Jelena's "consistancy" as if that's some sort of virtue. The only thing truly consistent about the Serbian players is their complaining.
if they keep it up, they will be boo'd everywhere they go around the world. the public already hates Novak. Could Jelena's constant complaining make her next?
Did Roger Federer offend JJ by implying he is against well-set notions of political correctness that rule tennis at the moment? He might have been more accurate if he'd said that the WTA isn't exactly covering itself in glory at the moment. But then the howls of outrage would have reached seismic proportions.
Some of you people are hopeless really. Roger doesn't bring these things up by himself as you are so willing to believe. That would be indeed petty. The journalists try to get his opinion and he speaks his mind cause he's not afraid like you lot. You're probably the people that are too scared to complain about anything, too scared to ask for a raise at work etc. And just because someone has the confidence to say what he really thinks, you see him as arrogant or something.. "Why should he even care?" wonders JJ.. Why shouldn't he?! He cares about tennis as a whole, he loves tennis and having won 13GS, he feels like his opinion in not irrelevant so he offers it. Can you get that?? I guess not..
Anyway, as someone already pointed out, it seems like JJ really wanted to speak about Rafa more than Federer, she apparently has a thing for him:)
AT WIMBLEDON FEISTY JJ -COMPLAINED ABOUT HER COURT WITHOUT EVEN CHECKING
SHE IMAGINED COURT 18 WAS TOO FAR AWAY ........! BENEATH HER DIGNITY ..!!
BUT IN FACT IT WASA ...NEW COURT-- NEXT DOOR TO CENTRE & NO 1 COURT
WITH EXCELLENT NEW SEATING AND A NEW PLAYERS CHANGING ROOM - PLAYERS LOVED IT
IN 2009 WIMBLEDON COULD PERHAPS CHANGE ITS NAME TO " FEDERER COURT" .....???? ..!
I can' t believe how ignorant the Federer fans are. Nadal-Federer: 13-6, Nadal has beaten Federer the last five times. Just because Federer starts to cry, everyone pitties him! It seems that nobody remembers that Nadal played a 5 hour match vs Verdasco and with juta one day of rest, he beats Federer in the final. And yet, the fans can;t accept that Nadal is better. If Nadal was in his best form a couple of years ago, Federer would never win any slams except wimbledone.
I can' t believe how ignorant the Federer fans are. Nadal-Federer: 13-6, Nadal has beaten Federer the last five times. Just because Federer starts to cry, everyone pitties him! It seems that nobody remembers that Nadal played a 5 hour match vs Verdasco and with juta one day of rest, he beats Federer in the final. And yet, the fans can;t accept that Nadal is better. If Nadal was in his best form a couple of years ago, Federer would never win any slams except wimbledone.
How many top players go for the mixed doubles title?they for the doubles and singles.Till she gets one of the singles grand slam,she shouldn't be in the top 5.The williams sisters can help her get there only if she accepts they are miles ahead of her.
Hey Guys, the media is just a joke: they have changed the words that Fed said about Djokovic when he quit. Well anyway let us say that Fed was arrogant (I believe his performance throughout the years has proved that his opinion should be taken into consideration), While JJ's ZERO profile does not permit her on attacking back in such a childlish way, on the otherhand she should try and prove Fed wrong by winning at least one major...
JJ has a grand slam! She won Wimbledon :-) with Jamie remember.
Roger Federer is the real example of "modesty" and "good sportsmanship" - trashing all others, especially noting how others "have not shown any improvement" when he looses. Not to mention him bursting into tears after his defeats. He's really abusing the fact that other players (and tennis fans) respect him a lot, and in his impulsive comments he just keeps trashing all others. Yes, he's good player but no - he is not invited to comment all others, especially when he has nothing constructive to say. I respected him a lot as he was really playing the best tennis in the world. But right now, seeing how low he can go as a person, I don't hold any respect for him any more.
Federer is an arrogant, cry baby. He picks on people to hide his own insecurities, he can see the likee of Nadal, Djokovic, & Murray have caught up with him and is trying to attack them emotionally. I think he should just give up the ghost and retire, because sooner or later he'll find himself having failed to catch up with Pete Sampras' record of Grand Slams,& ranked 5th or worse! Jankovic is a talented player, who just needs to improve her serving and physical fitness.
Calm down JJ - what you should really be doing is focus on your own game rather than worrying about other peoples comments. Stop being a "moaning Minny" for goodness sake - wee already have one in Andy Murray. Yes, please take a leaf out of the books of Rafa, Roger and the Williams' sisters and improve yourself and your game. They are champions in every sense of the word and you by far, still have a long way to go !
Federer should mind his own business. He has won 13 Grand Slams , more than anyone on tour put together, but is he no. 1? Show other players the respect they deserve by not talking about something you know nothing about. Be that as it may, Jelena needs to get her head straight. The fact that she replied, means that she is affected about the fact that she hasn't got a GS. She won't ever get one if her emotions continue to take hold of her.
People here are really making sense except for people like alkssmiljnov.How can one be on top without winning anything major,the slams and tour championships.If she is that good,how come she fails to make it in the slams.That shows she cant handle the pressure of the big events even when she plays opponents ranked well below her.Maybe she should get a lesson from the williams crew(Richard and Oracene)
and i must say that sometimes the football forums are more civilized than the tennis forums. they don't bring political matters into conversation.
calm down you lot. the players can't be blamed for responding, it's the ournalists that stalk them to get them to say stuff like this. just like they stalked Damir Dokic into talking trash, when he clearly didn't want to and should've been left alone. yes, Fed is arrogant these days, but don't doubt JJ won't win a grand slam in the near future. she's still young, and you'd have to be crazy to write Djokovic and Murray off.
Peace.
ROGER FEDERER HAS THE BEST INTERESTS OF WORLD TENNIS IN MIND
HE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT ------------ UNLIKE others mentioned around here
WHY ---------------WHY-=====------------------I N V A L I D --------------- /? ? ?? ??? ?? ........ ???
????? ????
Jelena is an average player good at loosing big tournaments. Everyone in their safe mind should not find it strange to wonder how could a player be number one in the world, the best in the bestests, while not winning one of the 4 best tournaments of the world. You have 4 Grand slams a year. 3 years and that makes it 12 biggest tournament of those 3 years, and yet Jelena did not win any of them and yet she is number one. If you find this is right then you may be confusing Tennis with Cricket.
77677 TO OLLIE 112
777 THE WIMBLEDON COURT JJ COMPLAINED ABOUT NO 18 WAS A BRAND NEW ADDITION
ZZZZZ SITUATED NEXT DOOR -- NEXT TO --- CENTRE & NO 1 COURT ---CLOSER THAN COURT 4
WITH NEW PLAYERS CHANGING ROOMS --- ALL NEW SEATING --POPULAR WITH OTHER PLAYERS
SHE COMPLAINED WITHOUT CHECKING -----SE WIMBLEDON MAP ON WTA SITE INFO
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