Well, after all the hubbub of Nadal and Federer playing in Montreal and Kim Clijsters making her comeback in Cincy, we have two weekend winners: Jelena Jankovic and the new World No. 2, Andy Murray.
J.J. took out Dinara Safina in the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati: 6-4, 6-2. It’s only her second title of the year and a much bigger one than the first in Marbella, Spain this April. It can’t hurt her confidence to routine the top ranked player in the world, either.
There’s some bad blood between the two slam-less No. Ones – Jelena commented during the Stanford tournament that Dinara didn’t deserve the top ranking: “If I had to pick someone after me (to be No. 1), I’d pick Serena.” she said. (Click here for the full account. But neither Jankovic or Safina were in the mood to rehash the past after Sunday’s match.
J.J. is all smiles now that she’s “back” (via Reuters):
“I’m back in this group of (top) players and hopefully I can keep my form up.” “I’m positive. I’m out there with a smile on my face, and I bring some, how do you say, interesting things into tennis again.”
Safina says being No. 1 is not enough (via Reuters):
“I’m feeling much better on the court and I think with each tournament I’ll feel better and better and get stronger and stronger for the U.S. Open.“
“It’s not that I’m number one and I want to stop. There is another goal.“
“(Maybe) it’s not possible to get two dreams at the same time, to finish number one and to win a grand slam. . .That would be too easy.”
Andy Murray won his fourth career Masters title in Montreal on Sunday, fighting past a fatigued but punchy Juan Martin del Potro: 6-7 (4), 7-6 (3), 6-1. His semifinal win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga guaranteed him the No. 2 ranking on Monday. The Scot says he still has one spot to go before he’s satisfied (via NYTimes):
“Bar winning a slam, I’ve done enough to justify being 2, and you know, getting closer to hopefully one day becoming No. 1, which is one of my goals.”
Del Potro, who was a soggy mess by the third set (or the third game, based on the sweat stains), says he still has a long way to go until he’s at the top (via the AP):
“I need to work hard to be like them. I can play against them, but I need to improve my game a lot if I want to be top-four, or top-two or No. 1.”
And the road trip rolls on – this week the women are in Toronto playing Rogers Cup and the men are in Cincinnati at the Western & Southern Group Masters.
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