LADYDRAGON.COM - Jelena Jankovic wins Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open title in Cincinnati

Monday August 17, 2009

Jelena Jankovic wins Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open title in Cincinnati

Jelena Jankovic ranked number 5 won the Western & Southern Financial Group Women's Open title in Cincinnati Sunday afternoon, beating world No.1 Dinara Safina in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.

Jelena at the $2-million, Premier-level tournament, did not have the smoothest path to the final, winning tight two-setters against Maria Kirilenko and Victoria Azarenka in the early rounds.

Specially on Saturday night against No.4 seed Elena Dementieva, 76(2) 06 76(6), saving four match points down 6-2 in the tie-break before winning in almost 3 hours match.

Dinara had won her last two meetings with Jelena, both on hardcourts and both last year, but this time it was Jelena who won.

Plus it was also Jelena first ever win over a reigning world No.1.

"When I did the interview before the match, Pam Shriver asked me how I felt today after such a tough one last night. I said I wanted to believe I wasn't tired, that I'm fresh and ready to play," Jankovic said. "I was feeling sore this morning, but when I went on the court I felt fine. I'm really pleased I was able to play well and beat the No.1 player in the world. This is very good for my confidence going into Toronto and the US Open."

Safina was playing her eighth final of the season and is now 3-5 in those. She is now 12-12 lifetime in finals.

"I was very confident stepping onto the court, but then I was just totally off," Safina said. "There were a few moments were I was starting to get into the match, but she was using some good shots and hitting very close to the lines, also down the lines. She played some great tennis today."

The two hottest teams of the year, both of which had four titles this season, squared off in the doubles final, and it was co-world No.1s and top seeds Cara Black and Liezel Huber who beat No.7 seeds Nuria Llagostera vives and María José Martínez Sánchez in a match tie-break victory, 63 06 102.

Black and Huber now have five titles this year on the Tour, a tally that also includes Paris [Indoors], Dubai, Madrid and Birmingham.