Jelena and Gilles went up the hill to fetch a pail of water; Gilles fell down and broke his crown, and Jelena came tumbling after. … But then Gilles got up, dusted himself off and started for the top again. Meanwhile, Jelena continued rolling … and rolling … and rolling.
This slightly twisted nursery rhyme pretty much sums up the state of things for two of the more exciting players of 2008, Jelena Jankovic and Gilles Simon. Last year at this time, each was the toast of the game. Simon was busy jumping 20 places to what would be a year-end ranking of No. 7; Jankovic, coming off a tough and entertaining loss to Serena Williams in the U.S. Open final, was a freshly minted No. 1 and poised to consolidate that position with a maiden Grand Slam title in 2009.
They were both climbing the hill, lugging pails they expected to fill with glory. Then they fell.
Simon didn't fall quite as far; his ranking in the past 12 months has dropped just a few places. But although he was a legitimate force last year, winning three titles, he didn't win his first title this year until Sunday, in Bangkok. Starting the year, Simon's task was to be a bankable quarterfinalist who occasionally could strike and go all the way. Instead, he commuted between quarterfinals and the early rounds with greater frequency and in a less predictable pattern than expected. He did play reasonably well in the majors, though, which helped him stay afloat mentally.
Because his ranking hasn't dropped far, Simon can still recover and perhaps even improve upon his 2008 performance if he continues to play well in the fall. Despite his drop, he seems to have taken care of his game and remains within striking distance of the elite top 5. All in all, he has contained the damage pretty well.
Jankovic is a different story. We've always known she's a complicated young lady -- it's part of her charm. But her penchant for drama has led her pretty far astray, and with Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters both declaring themselves ready to go for 2010, it's critically important for Jankovic to regroup. She needs to ask herself some hard, straightforward, honest questions. The way she withdrew from the Tokyo final, with arm trouble, raised eyebrows and rekindled suspicions that there's more wrong with Jankovic's head than with her health.
In the past year, Jankovic has dropped seven spots to No. 8 -- for a player of that quality, that's an enormous falloff, the difference between, say, Roger Federer and … Gilles Simon. Worse yet, she turned in one of her poorest Grand Slam performances in the major that might have done the most for her -- the Australian Open.
Jankovic had a golden opportunity to win her first major Down Under; she already had the No. 1 ranking, and she's especially good on hard courts. Unfortunately, she had overtrained in the offseason and bulked up to the point that, she felt, it overly affected her movement and quickness. She played an appalling match against Marion Bartoli in the fourth round in Melbourne, but it was more because of a conspicuous lack of confidence and fighting spirit than her physical condition. Things only got worse -- and more complicated -- in the ensuing weeks and months. It was as far as she would get in any major for the entire year.
Bad things happen to good players -- that's a given, and one every player needs to be mentally prepared to accept. Jankovic seems to have wandered off into a wilderness of confusion and lost confidence. Simon, by contrast, has managed to hang in there despite failing to match his 2008 record.
Jill, call Gilles.
Peter Bodo
