Jankovic makes it three straight

Oct 12, 2008 - 5:33 PM MOSCOW (Ticker) -- Jelena Jankovic left little doubt who is the best player in the world.

The top-seeded Serbian on Sunday rolled to a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russia's Vera Zvonareva in the final of the $1.34 million Kremlin Cup, strengthening her position as world No. 1 with her third WTA title in as many weeks.

The victory extended Jankovic's winning streak to 12 matches as she ousted Zvonareva in 81 minutes, becoming the first woman since Nicole Vaidisova in 2005 to win three times in three weeks. Jankovic also won in Beijing and at Stuttgart prior to the Kremlin Cup.

Jankovic, who claimed the $196,900 first prize, overtook Serena Williams for the No. 1 ranking on Monday,and strengthened her hold at the top at this hardcourt tournament.

The easy win in the final capped a tough ride to Sunday for Jankovic, who dropped the first set of her opener against Vera Dushevina, trailed 3-1 in both sets of her quarterfinal win over Flavia Pennetta, and rebounded from an awful start in her 0-6, 6-1, 6-0 win in Saturday's semifinal over the No. 3 seed and defending champion Elena Dementieva.

"All of my opponents this week were tough and I had to work hard every match," Jankovic said. "All of my opponents in the last few weeks have been tough for me. Winning three tournaments in a row is a great result. I've been trying my best. I'm close to finishing the year as the No.1 player in the world."

Jankovic also captured the French Open tuneup in Rome earlier this year and now has nine titles for her career. She's also been a runner-up twice this season, losing to Serena Williams in finals at Miami and the U.S. Open.

Zvonareva, meanwhile, failed in her bid for her third title of 2008. She also won at Prague in May and last month in Guangzhou to increase her career victory total to seven. In addition to her victories, she has also lost in the title matches at Hobart, Doha and Charleston.

Jankovic also improved to 6-3 in her career against Zvonareva. The two had split six career meetings prior to this win streak for Jankovic, who bounced Zvonareva in the semifinals at Beijing two weeks ago and in the quarterfinals last week in Stuttgart.