sports players: September 2011

Jelena Janković (Serbian Cyrillic: Јелена Јанковић, pronounced [jɛ̌lɛna jǎːnkɔv̞itɕ]; born February 28, 1985 in Belgrade) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Serbia. She reached the final of the 2008 US Open and won the 2007 Wimbledon Mixed Doubles title. Janković is ranked World No. 12, being coached by the former ATP top 15 player, Andrei Pavel.Family and early life
Janković was born in Belgrade, Serbia, Yugoslavia, as the third child of Veselin (Веселин) and Snežana (Снежана), two economists.[citation needed]. She has two brothers, Marko (Марко) and Stefan (Стефан). She is a student at the Megatrend University in Belgrade, studying economics; however, she has put her course of study on indefinite hold as she continues to pursue her tennis career. Janković learned her first tennis skills at the Tennis Club 'Red Star'.[2] As a nine-and-a-half year old she was introduced to tennis by her elder brother and fitness coach Marko.[3] With 11 years has won the national championship in the competition to 12 years. She was later trained at the Tennis Academy of Nick Bollettieri. As a junior she won the 2001 Australian Open[4] and junior No. 1 in the world.[5] In 2001, she started to play on the WTA Tour; she reached the second round at her first tournament at the Indian Wells Masters.

[edit] Tennis career
In October 2003, Janković entered the top 100 at No. 90 for the first time after winning her first ITF title in Dubai. Three months later, Janković garnered her first top 10 win against Elena Dementieva 6–1, 6–4 in the first round of the 2004 Australian Open. In May, Janković won her first WTA title, a Tier V event, in Budapest, defeating Martina Suchá in the final 7–6, 6–3. Following her win in Budapest, she reached No. 51 in the world. Elsewhere in her 2004 season, she defeated top 20 players Nadia Petrova (twice), Vera Zvonareva, Patty Schnyder and Paola Suárez. Janković finished 2004 ranked No. 28 in the world.

She was ranked World No. 1 for seventeen consecutive weeks until she was overtaken by Serena Williams on February 2, 2009. She was the year-end World No. 1 in 2008, the second player in the history of the WTA tour to do this without winning a Grand Slam title, after Kim Clijsters.

jelena jankovic photos gallrey

jelena jankovic the shot2005
In March, at Dubai, she advanced to the final following Serena Williams's retirement in the semifinal. Janković then lost in the final to Lindsay Davenport 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. She made her first Tier I semifinal in Berlin, losing to Nadia Petrova 6–4, 6–7, 6–3. In June, she reached her first grass court final at Birmingham, but lost to Maria Sharapova 6–2, 4–6, 6–1. In October, Janković reached her third final of the year in Seoul, ranked No. 17 in the world, her highest ranking at that time, losing to 16-year-old Nicole Vaidišová 7–5, 6–3. Her ranking at the end of the season eclipsed her 2004 record at No. 22

jelena jankovic advertisment

jelena jankovic hot

jelena jankovic photos gallrey

jelena jankovic gallreyankle injury at the Dubai Tennis Championships and losing in three sets to Justine Henin at the Qatar Total Open in Doha, Qatar. However, she then failed to reach the semifinals at any of her next three tournaments. Janković rebounded in the clay court season, defeating Venus Williams on a third set tiebreak in the semifinals of the Family Circle Cup in Charleston, South Carolina. She went on to defeat Dinara Safina in the final to win the first Tier I title of her career. On European red clay, after losing to World No. 1 Henin in three sets in both the semifinals of the J&S Cup in Warsaw and the quarterfinals of the Qatar Telecom German Open (failing to hold a 4–0 lead in the third set in the latter), Janković won her second career Tier I title at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome, defeating second-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final. This results meant she entered the top five on the world rankings for the first time. Janković was the fourth seed at the French Open and one of the favorites for the title. After registering her third consecutive victory over Venus Williams in the third round, she went on to reach the semifinals of a Grand Slam for the second time in her career, but lost there to eventual champion Henin 6–2, 6–2. This improved her ranking to a new career-high of World No. 3.

On grass, Janković captured the DFS Classic title in Birmingham, beating top-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova led 3–0 in the third set before Janković rallied to win the match. This was her first career victory over Sharapova. The next week, Janković reached the final of the Ordina Open in the Netherlands and became the first player since Chris Evert in 1974 to win 50 matches in the first half of a year.[citation needed] Janković, suffering from a hamstring injury, lost the final to Anna Chakvetadze. At Wimbledon, Janković was the third seed but lost in the fourth round to the surprise eventual finalist Marion Bartoli, 3–6, 7–5, 6–3. In the mixed doubles competition at Wimbledon, Janković teamed with doubles specialist Jamie Murray to win the title by beating the fifth-seeded team, Jonas Björkman and Alicia Molik, in the final 6–4, 3–6, 6–1.

jelena jankovic dinner time

jelena jankovic images

jelena jankovic with trofy

jelena jankovic

jelena jankovic
2009
Janković started the year at the JB Group Classic, an exhibition prior to the Australian Open. She was the top seed of Team Europe. She started by winning a doubles match in which she was paired with Portuguese player Michelle Larcher de Brito. The team defeated Team Americas' World No. 6 Venus Williams and newcomer to the women's tour, Coco Vandeweghe, 6–4, 7–5. Janković then lost to Williams in singles 6–2, 6–2. Janković later withdrew from the remainder of the tournament because of illness.

Janković was seeded first at the Australian Open in Melbourne. She shockingly lost to sixteenth-seeded Marion Bartoli of France in the fourth round 6–1, 6–4. Bartoli hit 34 winners compared to Janković's 17 and won 81% of her first serve points compared to Janković's 56%. Janković lost her World No. 1 ranking to Serena Williams as a result.

Her next Women's Tennis Association event was the Open GDF SUEZ tournament in Paris, where she entered as a wildcard and was the second seeded player. In the first round, Janković beat Francesca Schiavone and in the second round, she beat Li Na. In the quarterfinals, she beat fifth-seeded Alizé Cornet 5–7, 6–4, 6–4 but then lost to Amélie Mauresmo in the semifinals 6–2, 0–6, 6–1.

Janković had a first round bye at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, where she was seeded third. She was upset by Kaia Kanepi in the third round, 6–2, 7–5, in what she called "the worst match of my career".[20] She was the second seeded player at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, a Premier Mandatory tournament. She received a bye in the first round before losing in the second round to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6–4, 6–4. After the match, she conceded that she has been struggling with her confidence, saying "I need a lot of work".[21] Janković then lost in the second round of the next Premier Mandatory tournament, the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida, to Gisela Dulko 6–4, 7–6(5) after Janković failed to hold leads of 5–2 in the second set and 5–2 in the tiebreaker.

Beginning her spring clay court season at the Andalucia Tennis Experience in Marbella, Spain, Janković defeated fifth-seeded Spaniard Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets for her first title of 2009.

David Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE (born 2 May 1975 is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C. Milan, as well as the England national team, for whom he holds the all-time appearance record for an outfield player.

Beckham's career began when he signed a professional contract with Manchester United, making his first-team debut in 1992 aged 17. During his time there, United won the Premier League title six times, the FA Cup twice, and the UEFA Champions League in 1999. He left Manchester United to sign for Real Madrid in 2003, where he remained for four seasons, clinching the La Liga championship in his final season with the club. In January 2007, it was announced that Beckham would leave Real Madrid for the Major League Soccer club Los Angeles Galaxy, signing a five-year contract with them on 1 July 2007. While a Galaxy player, he spent two loan spells in Italy with Milan in 2009 and 2010.

In international football, Beckham made his England debut on 1 September 1996, at the age of 21. He was made captain from 15 November 2000[10] until the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals,[11] during which he played 58 times. He earned a much-publicised hundredth cap against France on 26 March 2008, and became the all-time outfield player appearance record holder on 28 March 2009 when he surpassed Bobby Moore's total of 108 caps.[5] With 115 career appearances to date he has stated that he does not intend to retire from international football, having missed the 2010 World Cup through injury and not featuring in England manager Fabio Capello's post-World Cup plans

Beckham has twice been runner-up for FIFA World Player of the Year and in 2004 was the world's highest-paid footballer when taking into account salary and advertising deals. Beckham was the first British footballer to play 100 Champions League matches. He is third in the Premier League's all time time assist provider chart, with 152 assists in 265 appearances. He was Google's most searched of all sports topics in both 2003 and 2004. With such global recognition he has become an elite advertising brand and a top fashion icon. When joining the MLS in 2007 he was given the highest player salary in the league's history, with his playing contract with the Galaxy over the next three years being worth US$6.5m per year.

He has been married to singer and fashion designer Victoria Beckham since 1999; they have four children.

Club career
Childhood and early career
Beckham was born at Whipps Cross University Hospital in Leytonstone, London, England. He is the son of Sandra Georgina (née West) (b. 1949), a hairdresser, and David Edward Alan "Ted" Beckham (b. Edmonton, London, July–September 1948), a kitchen fitter, who married at the London Borough of Hackney in 1969, He regularly played football in Ridgeway Park, Chingford, as a child, and attended Chase Lane Primary School and Chingford Foundation School. In a 2007 interview, Beckham said that, "At school whenever the teachers asked, 'What do you want to do when you're older?' I'd say, 'I want to be a footballer.' And they'd say, 'No, what do you really want to do, for a job?' But that was the only thing I ever wanted to do." Beckham's maternal grandfather was Jewish, and Beckham has referred to himself as "half Jewish"and wrote in his autobiography "I've probably had more contact with Judaism than with any other religion". In his book Both Feet on the Ground, he stated that growing up he attended church every week with his parents and his older sister, Lynne Georgina and younger sister, Joanne Louise.His parents were fanatical Manchester United supporters who would frequently travel to Old Trafford from London to attend the team's home matches. David inherited his parents' love of Manchester United, and his main sporting passion was football. He attended one of Bobby Charlton's football schools in Manchester and won the chance to take part in a training session at FC Barcelona, as part of a talent competition. He played for a local youth team called the Ridgeway Rovers – coached by his father, Stuart Underwood and Steve Kirby. Beckham was a Manchester United mascot for a match against West Ham United in 1986. Young Beckham had trials with his local club Leyton Orient, Norwich City and attended Tottenham Hotspur's school of excellence. Tottenham Hotspur was the first club he played for. During a two-year period in which Beckham played for Brimsdown Rovers' youth team, he was named Under-15 Player of the Year in 1990. He also attended Bradenton Preparatory Academy, but signed schoolboy forms at Manchester United on his fourteenth birthday, and subsequently signed a Youth Training Scheme contract on 8 July 1991.

Manchester United
Beckham was part of a group of young players at the club who guided the club to win the FA Youth Cup in May 1992, with Beckham scoring in the second leg[34] of the final against Crystal Palace. He made his first appearance for United's first-team that year, as a substitute in a League Cup match against Brighton & Hove Albion, and signed his first professional contract shortly afterwards. United reached the final of the Youth Cup again the following year, with Beckham playing in their defeat by Leeds United, and he won another medal in 1994 when the club's reserve team won their league, although he did not play in any first team games that season.

On 7 December 1994, Beckham made his UEFA Champions League debut, scoring a goal in a 4–0 victory at home to Galatasaray in the final game of the group stage. However, this victory was of little use as they finished third out of four in their group behind FC Barcelona on goal difference.

He then went to Preston North End on loan for part of the 1994–95 season to get some first team experience. He impressed, scoring two goals in five appearances, notably scoring directly from a corner kick. Beckham returned to Manchester and finally made his Premier League debut for Manchester United on 2 April 1995, in a goal-less draw against Leeds United. He played four times for United in the league that season, as they finished second behind Blackburn Rovers and missed a third successive Premier League title by a single point. He was not in the squad for United's FA Cup final clash with Everton on 20 May, which they lost 1–0 and were left without a major trophy for the first time since 1989.

Real MadridAs the summer 2003 transfer window approached Manchester United appeared keen to sell Beckham to FC Barcelona and the two clubs even announced that they reached a deal to move the player to Barcelona, but instead he joined reigning Spanish champions Real Madrid for €35 million (£25m) transfer fee[ on a four-year contract as the latest of the galáctico signings by club president Florentino Pérez. The news came as a bitter pill to the newly elected Barça president Joan Laporta who based much of his presidential campaign precisely on signing Beckham. Though announced in mid-June, the transfer was completed on 1 July 2003, making him the third Englishman to play for the club after Laurie Cunningham and Steve McManaman. Following a successful medical on 2 July, Beckham was unveiled in front of 500 accredited journalists from 25 countries at Real's basketball facility where he was handed the Real shirt by club legend Alfredo di Stéfano.Although Beckham had worn the number seven shirt for Manchester United and England, he was unable to wear it at Madrid as it was currently assigned to club captain Raúl. The Englishman decided to wear number 23 instead, citing his admiration of basketball player Michael Jordan, who also wore the number 23 shirt, as the reason behind his decision.

In the week before Beckham presentation, Real named Carlos Queiroz as their new head coach, meaning that Beckham got reunited with a familiar face upon arriving to Madrid since Queiroz spent the previous season as Alex Ferguson's assistant at Manchester United. In late July 2003, the club went on a tour of the Far East as part of the pre-season training, but also to cash in on Beckham's huge marketing appeal in Asia where he enjoyed tremendous following. Real's brand recognition in that part of the globe was already well established as the club made financially successful trips to Asia during previous off-seasons, however the presence of global marketing icon such as Beckham made this particular tour a financial smash for los Merengues.

Shortly after his Real switch, Beckham also dropped his longtime agent Tony Stephens of SFX Europe who guided him to and through super-stardom and was one of the key players that engineered Beckham's move from Manchester to Madrid. Beckham signed on with Simon Fuller and his company 19 Entertainment that already managed the career of David's wife Victoria.Beckham also appointed close friend Terry Byrne to be his personal manager.

In late August 2003, Real Madrid won the Spanish Super Cup over two legs versus RCD Mallorca, with Beckham scoring the final goal in a 3–0 return leg win at home, thus setting the stage for the start of the league season. Playing on a star-laden team along with Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, Luis Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Iker Casillas, etc., Beckham did not require much time to settle in, scoring five times in his first 16 matches (including a goal less than three minutes into his La Liga debut). Queiroz mostly favoured the adaptable 5–3–2 formation with two fullbacks Michel Salgado and Roberto Carlos often joining the attack down the wings, while Beckham quickly found a regular playing spot on the right of the 3-man midfield alongside Zidane and Figo.

Real Madrid were runners-up in the Copa del Rey, were knocked out of the UEFA Champions League at the quarter-final stage and finished the league season in fourth place, meaning the team, whose president Pérez expected them to win either the Spanish league or the Champions League each season, did not match expectations.

In July 2004, while Beckham was in pre-season training in Spain, an intruder scaled a wall at the Beckham home while carrying a can of petrol. Victoria and their children were in the house at the time, but security guards apprehended the man before he reached the house.

The league season began with new head coach José Antonio Camacho behind the bench, but he ended up lasting only three matches, handing in his resignation following week 3 fixture as Real dropped to eighth spot in the La Liga standings. Camacho's assistant Mariano García Remón took over on temporary basis as Real leadership scrambled to find a permanent replacement. Beckham made more headlines on 9 October 2004 when he admitted intentionally fouling Ben Thatcher in an England match against Wales in order to get himself booked. Beckham was due to receive a one-match suspension for his next caution, and had picked up an injury, which he knew would keep him out of England's next match, so he deliberately fouled Thatcher in order to serve his suspension in a match that he would have had to miss anyway. The Football Association asked Beckham for an explanation of his actions and he admitted that he had "made a mistake" and apologised.[68] He was sent off shortly afterwards, this time in a league match for Real Madrid against Valencia CF. Having received a yellow card, he was judged to have sarcastically applauded the referee and was given a second yellow card, causing an automatic dismissal, although the suspension was cancelled on appeal two days later.