The form ran dry for surging Serb Jelena Jankovic as the seventh-seed was unable to follow up a one-two knockout punch of the Williams sisters with a victory in the Saturday final of the Internazionale d’Italia.
Jankovic was denied a third title at the Foro Italico as unfancied Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez produced a 7-6 (7-5), 7-5 upset to earn the title in a surprise finish.
Jankovic, 2007 and 2008 champion, had flattened the seeded American challenge in the quarters and semis on the Rome clay, hammering out defeats of Venus and Serena Williams.
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But the final with the 26th-ranked Martinez Sanchez did not go quite as planned.
“She plays very differently to most girls, lots of drop shots, serve and volley and she’s left-handed and she is really difficult,” said Jankovic.
“She doesn’t have one weapon but she’s tricky with all these things she does.” Jankovic has been lifting this season after finishing 2008 atop the rankings but failing to back it up in 2009.
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She won the Indian Wells event in March to kick-start her comeback.
“I played really well in some of those matches and it gave me a lot of confidence to work even harder and try to improve my game, and come back to the top and start with big events. That was my goal.”
“I had to beat the Williams sisters and that takes a lot of energy out of you.” Martinez Sanchez, 27, won her third clay title in two seasons in the wake of Bogata and Bastad.
“I’m so happy to have won in Rome. It hasn’t sunk in. There are so many emotions,” said the winner who put out former French open champion Ana Ivanovic in the semis after upsetting second-seed Caroline Wozniacki.
“I have a different game, it’s not typical,” she said. “That’s the idea of my game, do lots of different things,” said the player who admits she was inspired by Martina Navratilova.