Jelena Jankovic made her first Grand Slam final appearance Sunday evening, playing a competitive match against Serena Williams.  While Serena went on to win the match 6-4, 7-5, Jelena gave a great fight to become the 2008 Runner-Up Finalist.

Jelena credits her ability to make it to the finals because of her better fitness, which has been worked on with Pat:

“Q. You talked about some issues with conditioning, and I know a couple of matches ago you had some leg cramps coming off…

JELENA JANKOVIC: Yes, in the beginning of the week. And you probably can see the difference that, you know, I was not moving as well. I was really struggling. I was, you know, getting tired quite quickly, but I have been working with the Pat Etcheberry quite a lot. Every day I feel that I’m just little by little I’m getting stronger. I’m getting firmer.

I’m not doing the exercises that make me tired. It just helps me to tone my muscles, and really, you know, we do a lot of exercises for agility, a little bit of strength. Not too much that it’s going to make me tired for my match.

So it’s just enough. And I feel that every day I’m seeing the difference, I’m seeing the progress, which is the most important thing.” http://www.usopen.org/en_US/news/interviews/2008-09-02/200809021220410945539.html

Click here for more info on her great US Open appearance:

http://greattennisphotos.blogspot.com/2008/08/jelena-jankovic-us-open-31-august.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/sep/01/usopentennis.tennis?gusrc=rss&feed=sport

 Jelena has been using her Etch-Swing to help her gain strength and power in her shots.  Click here to learn how you can get yours!