Jelena Jankovic celebrates no.1 rank with a win at the Porsche Grand Prix

New No. 1 Jelena Jankovic won her second title in two weeks, defeating Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-4, 6-3 Sunday in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix.

The 23-year-old Serb also won the China Open last week and the Italian Open earlier this year.

“I am really proud of myself,” she said.

“I am playing with a lot of confidence and I played some good tennis this week.”

Jankovic was assured of taking the top ranking Monday from Serena Williams regardless of the outcome of the final.

She already held the No. 1 spot for one week in August.

“I feel that every day I am getting better and better. I am really working on my game, I want to reach my full potential,” Jankovic said.

Williams became the No. 1 after defeating Jankovic at the U.S. Open final, but the American will drop in the rankings after losing her opening match in Stuttgart.

Jankovic won her eighth career title after overcoming a brief lapse in the second set against the 18th-ranked Russian, who won the Stuttgart tournament in 2006.

After the win, Jankovic took a spin in the red Porsche 911 convertible given to the winner and appeared to have more trouble controlling the powerful car than the match.

She broke serve in the opening game and it was enough to give her the set against an error-prone Petrova.

“I really wanted to win this trophy, and when you want too much, sometimes it doesn’t work in tennis,” Petrova said.

“I gave it my best.”

Petrova had not dropped a set this week until the final.

Jankovic has been playing with a painful left foot after tearing off a toe nail. She needed painkiller shots before her semifinal win over Venus Williams and got two more before the final.

Asked about her foot at the post-match news conference, Jankovic misunderstood the question and replied, “The food is great.”

Realizing the mistake, Jankovic burst out laughing and then added:

“It’s numb during the match and I don’t feel anything, but after a couple of hours it hurts a lot,” she said.

“The doctor told me to wear flip-flops but I am flying to Serbia tonight, I can’t go in flip-flops like I am going to the beach.”

Jankovic is scheduled to play the Kremlin Cup next week. Although she left open whether she would actually show up in Moscow for the tournament, which Williams is skipping.

“I feel tired now, but mentally I am not tired, I am hungry to do well. I want to finish the year as No. 1,” she said.

The doubles final, which followed the singles final, saw top seeds Kveta Peschke and Rennae Stubbs taking on the wildcard pairing of Patty Schnyder and Anna-Lena Groenefeld.

And it was the underdogs who came out on top, as Groenefeld and Schnyder won their first title together with a 62 64 upset victory.

Groenefeld won her seventh career Tour doubles title, and first since the beginning of 2007; Schnyder picked up her fifth Tour doubles title, her first since early 2004.

(Via AP, Images via Yahoo! Sport, zimbio.com)