Jankovic wins second straight title

Oct 5, 2008 - 4:17 PM STUTTGART, Germany (Ticker) -- Jelena Jankovic's return to the top of the rankings will come with another title.

The second-seeded Jankovic won her second title in as many weeks Sunday with a 6-4, 6-3 triumph over Nadia Petrova in the final of the Porsche Grand Prix.

A winner at Beijing last week, the 23-year-old Serb captured her third title of the year and eighth overall. She pocketed $100,000 for her latest title.

"I'm very proud of winning my second tournament in a row," Jankovic said. "It wasn't easy coming here from China and I had very tough matches against Zvonareva and Venus, but I'm thrilled to win the Porsche today.

"Today's match was not the highest level from either of us but I'm happy I was able to hang in there in the end and be the champion."

More good news comes Jankovics's way Monday when she will replace Serena Williams as the world's top-ranked player. It will mark the second stint atop the rankings for Jankovic, who held the No. 1 spot for a week in August.

Jankovic, who was slated to become the new No. 1 despite Sunday's outcome, enjoyed an 81 percent first serve and converted four break points in the 83-minute match. She beat Petrova for a fourth straight time and improved to 6-2 all-time against the Russian.

The 26-year Petrova, an eight-time champion, was seeking her second title of the year. Despite coming up short, she still has reached the semifinals in four of her last five tournaments.

"There are some days you wake up and you know it's not going to be your day. No matter what I tried today it didn't work, and my legs felt really heavy," Petrova said.

"Putting today aside I'm really happy with my week, though. I'm having a lot of fun practicing again and I want to keep this up. I'm very excited to finish the season and look ahead to what might be possible next year."