MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -A sore and sorry Jelena Jankovic will have to forgo glamour for the time being.
"When you have pain in your back, the worst thing is to have heels on and put on a short dress," the third-ranked Jankovic said when asked if she'd take another ride in an Italian sports car before she leaves Melbourne. "Because I can't bend down, I can't do anything."
Jankovic twice sought medical treatment in the second set of her 6-3, 6-1 semifinal loss to Maria Sharapova, laying outstretched on a towel while a physiotherapist massaged her lower back.
"I felt really some strange pain in my back where I felt like I was so stuck," she said. "I wanted to withdraw, but it was a semifinal."
The Serb also regrets her promise to join American Bethanie Mattek in the doubles competition, where they lost in the third round.
"I shouldn't even have played doubles, but Bethanie asked me to play when I was in my off season," she said. "When I came here I completely forgot that I even told her that I was going to play here in Melbourne with her ... So I tried my best to play, but it was very tough on my body, for sure."
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NUMBERS GAME: Ana Ivanovic's climb up the WTA rankings is catching her by surprise.
Fourth-seeded Ivanovic rallied to beat Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 in two hours, 10 minutes to reach the Australian Open final and earn herself the No. 2 position when the new rankings are released next week.
Only she didn't realized it.
"Really? No, really? Oh, OK. Well, great," Ivanovic responded when told of her new ranking. "I really didn't expect that. That's definitely good, so one more spot to go."
Ivanovic will next face fifth-seeded Maria Sharapova, who cruised past Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1.
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