Irresistible force versus the human backboard

Updated: September 6, 2008, 12:56 PM ET

Who will win the U.S. Open final between Serena Williams and Jelena Jankovic?

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NEW YORK -- Serena Williams has passed the U.S. Open crucible with flying colors -- thus far. Handily ending Dinara Safina's remarkable run in the summer semifinals, Williams has not dropped a set in New York. She was discernibly upset after losing the Wimbledon final, and a championship at the U.S. Open -- which has eluded her since 2002 -- would be the perfect tonic.

Williams' opponent in Saturday's final, though, has a lot at stake. The last of the three high-profile Serbians without a major title, Jelena Jankovic has shown heart and gumption, twice needing three sets to advance.

If that's not enough, the winner of this match also will catapult to the No. 1 world ranking.

So, who has the edge? Our intrepid writers Bonnie D. Ford and Greg Garber go head to head.

Who will win the U.S. Open final between Jelena Jankovic and Serena Williams?

JELENA JANKOVIC


	Jankovic

She watched, proudly but with gnawing jealousy, as fellow Serbs Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic won their first Grand Slam tournaments. Djokovic was the 2008 Australian Open champion, and Ivanovic later broke through at the French Open.

When, Serbian journalists have chorused, will Jelena Jankovic win her first major title?

The answer is this weekend, here at the 2008 U.S. Open.

Sure, Serena Williams is the prohibitive favorite after her 6-3, 6-2 spanking of Dinara Safina. She's won two U.S. Open titles and, well, she's Serena Williams. But consider Jankovic's journey to this place.

On Friday, the 23-year-old took out the Olympic champion, Elena Dementieva, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to this final. Jankovic has never been this far, and she's not going to stop now.

"As you can see, I have tears in my eyes," Jankovic said in an on-court interview. "I'm a little bit emotional to be in the final."

Here's the deal: Williams has won eight major championships, but Jankovic has overcome some serious issues to get here. She has battled all kinds of injuries -- gluteus maximus, back, virus, arm and knee -- and has pronounced herself healthy for the first time all season.

Jankovic has to play the kind of game against Williams that Williams played against her sister Venus. Williams, a power player, tends to make a lot of unforced errors. Jankovic is a retriever, a human backboard who invites mistakes in long rallies. Williams showed great patience in the quarterfinals against her sister, and Jankovic must do the same in the final.

In their brief history, they have split six matches.

To all those conceding a Williams victory, consider Jankovic's hunger to get one on the board.

"I want to win a Grand Slam," she said Friday. "This is why I came here."

-- Greg Garber

SERENA WILLIAMS


	Williams

When last we saw our heroines on the same court, Jelena Jankovic called Serena Williams a "heavyweight champion" and referred to herself as a "feather[weight] champion."

"I cannot match up against her," Jankovic said after losing to Williams in three sets in the Sony Ericsson Open final this past April in Miami. "Just too much power for me to handle, especially on a good day when she's playing well."

Sorry, JJ, you ain't seen nothing yet.

Williams hasn't won a Grand Slam since the 2007 Australian Open, but her history is that once she's in a final, she's usually an irresistible force. She is 8-for-11 when a Slam title is on the line; her only losses have come to women who can match her blow for blow, namely her sister Venus (2001 U.S. Open, 2008 Wimbledon) and Maria Sharapova (2004 Wimbledon).

Williams and Jankovic are 3-3 on paper, but in Arthur Ashe Stadium, Williams will start with a considerable psychological edge. It's awfully hard to win a Slam on your first try, as witnessed most recently by the paths of Jankovic's fellow Serbians Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic. Happy-to-be-here is an even more insidious bug than that bacterial thing that gave Jankovic a runny nose for four months earlier this season.

The way Williams thumped Dinara Safina in the semifinals was telling. She was perfectly set up for a letdown. She couldn't have played any better than she did against Venus in their two-tiebreaker quarterfinal. How could she avoid an emotional dip after that? Humid winds, a harbinger of the coming storm system, swirled on the stadium court, making it impossible to establish any rhythm. How could she avoid being annoyed? Yet Williams played cleanly and well on big points and showed no signs of a hangover.

Nothing has changed since Miami except that Williams is stronger, fitter, hungrier and as serious as a heart attack . I predict a TKO in straight sets.

-- Bonnie D. Ford