Henin departure gives Jankovic renewed hope

BEIJING, May 28 -- If anyone was pleased to see the back of Justine Henin, it was Jelena Jankovic. The Serb faced Henin across the net nine times and each time she emerged as the loser.

With two of those defeats being in grand slam semifinals, including at the French Open 12 months ago, Jankovic believes her time to shine on the big stage has finally come thanks to the Belgian's sudden retirement from the sport.

Henin, who had won the French Open in four of the previous five years, turned her back on the sport just two weeks ago, allowing the likes of Jankovic, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova to battle it out for the world No. 1 crown.

"Now Justine is not there, and she was the one that I had most trouble with. I never could beat her, and now that she's gone, obviously I've more chance," said Jankovic, who faces Tathiana Garbin or Marina Erakovic in the second round in Paris.

"The one who will do great here, who will win this grand slam, will be the number one.

"That is my dream, to win a grand slam.

"I've been three times in the semifinal. I lost to the one who won it."

However, Jankovic played down talk of her being one of the favorites for the title despite entering the claycourt major ranked behind only Sharapova and Ivanovic.

"I don't really look at myself as a favorite. I'm the third player in the world and there are other girls who are favorites," said the Italian Open champion, the only one among the top trio to win a title on red clay in the run-up to the French Open.

"I've been playing quite well the last few weeks on clay. I'm working with a new coach and he's helping me a lot.

"I really feel the improvement ... I'm learning to play the game. I'm learning to construct the points. I feel as if I'm a much better player, more mature player than I used to be, so I have a good chance." (Shanghai Daily)