Serbia is beginning to make an immense impact on the tennis world, thanks in no small measure to Novak Djokovic on the ATP tour, and Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic taking the WTA tour by storm.

Here we see how Ivanovic and Jankovic have progressed on both the WTA tour as well as the Grand Slams.

Ana Ivanovic: Has had her best year to date, with impressive results, including great success at Grand Slam level. She has already competed in 13 tournaments this year and took her second Tier 1 title in Berlin. She now has three titles to her name - Berlin, Montreal and Canberra.

'Serena Williams and Justine Henin are currently injured and could still be recovering when the US open arrives, which will create a huge opening for the Serbian pair'


Ana started the year with two quarter-final finishes in Gold Coast and Sydney by way of warm-up for the Australian Open. But she fell in the last 32 in Melbourne as the No 13 seed, losing to Vera Zvonareva of Russia 1-6 2-6. Greater success followed in Tokyo as she upset Serbian rival Jelena Jankovic and Maria Sharapova on route to her second Tier 1 final. But the astonishing run was ended by Martina Hingis 4-6 2-6. Then a solid  quater-final finish in Antwerp was followed by disappointing shows in Indian Wells and Miami,

Ana has produced some of her better results on clay and a great run at Amelia Island ended in the semis against French teenager and eventual champion Tatiana Golovin. But Vera Zvonareva dismantled the Serbian once again in Charleston. A rain-hit Berlin didn't put Ana off course for her third title as she took out Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 3-6 6-4 7-6.

Roland Garros saw Ana in her first-ever Grand Slam final after disposing of Kuznetsova and Sharapova. But she was crushed 1-6 2-6 by Justine Henin. A spectacular grass court season saw Ana with a quarter-final finish in S'hertogenbosch and a semi-final finish at Wimbledon, where she lost to eventual champion Venus Williams. Ana is currently enjoying her best career ranking of five and is No 3 in the race to the season ending championships.

Jelena Jankovic: Has five titles to her name, taking four of them this year. She has been pegged as a workaholic on the WTA tour, already claiming over 50 singles victories. She has competed in 18 tournaments so far this year and counting.

Jelena started the year with spectacular results in Australia and New Zealand. She won in Auckland and was a finalist in Sydney despite having match points against Kim Clijsters in the final. She had a fourth round finish in Melbourne but lost to eventual champion Serena Williams. Then Tokyo saw her fall to fellow Serbian Ana Ivanovic  6-3 4-6 2-6.

Jelena then reached the semis in Dubai and Doha, losing to Amelie Mauresmo in Dubai (where she was forced to retire with an injury) and she then lost to eventual champion Justine Henin in Doha in a 7-6 2-6 4-6. Like Ivanovic she had dissapointing results in Indian Wells and Miami.

Jelena took her second title of the year on clay in Charleston as she breezed past everyone except Venus Williams, who put up a great fight before going down 3-6 6-3 7-6 (5) in the final. Back to back losses to Henin in the semis of Warsaw and quaters of Berlin followed but she landed her third title of the year in Rome as she beat Elena Dementieva, Patty Schnyder and Svetlana Kuznetsova on route.

She withdrew from her semi in Strasbourg with injury but reached her second Grand Slam semi in Paris, where she lost to eventual champion Justine Henin 2-6 2-6. In the build-up to Wimbledon Jelena beat Maria Sharapova in three sets in Birmingham and lost to the talented Russian Anna Chakvetadze in S'hertogenbosch.

Wimbledon was a disappointment and she didn't progress as far as most exspected, losing to eventual finalist Marion Bartoli. But she made up for that by claiming her her first Grand Slam title in the mixed doubles with Jamie Murray.   

The Serbian has shown sublime tennis and great dedication this year. Her magnificent ground strokes and trademark backhand down the line, pitches Jankovic as one to fear. She is scheduled to start her US campaign in San Diego this week. She is at a career high of No 3 in the world rankings and No 2 in the race to the season ending championships.

How they compare: Right now the Williams sisters and Justine Henin are seen as the top women that raise the bar in women tennis. Both Jankovic and Ivanovic have suffered defeats from at least two of them at Grand Slam level. But Serena Williams and Justine Henin are currently injured and could still be recovering when the US open arrives, which will create a huge opening for the Serbian pair. But whatever the opposition be assured that both will give it their best shot.