She is the face of new Serbia. Young, energetic, good-humoured and looking out to the world. The scars of war are slowly fading away in the former Yugoslav country, and the joys of success are being celebrated. And Jelena Jankovic, part of the high-flying tennis trio, is doing her best to contribute to the fervour.
"It is amazing that a country of only six million people are having three players in the top-five," gushes the 23-year-old.
"It's not something that happens every day."
Fighting for space on tour till the beginning of last year, Jankovic, along with Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic, have left the world follow their trail-blazing run to the top-echelons of the game. The Super Serbs, all with rivetting stories of surviving their ambition while their country was being bombed, made a dent on the tennis map when they progressed to the semi-finals of the French Open last year.
They have moved on to bigger things since then, Ivanovic making her second Grand Slam final at the Australian Open this year while Djokovic finally ended Roger Federer's reign in Melbourne to earn Serbia's first singles Grand Slam crown.
While their collective success turned out to be the biggest story in tennis last year, a lesser known player from the same country, Viktor Troicki claimed at the Mumbai Open in September that the three would not have hit the jackpot so soon if they hadn't moved out of the war-ravaged country to train and polish their skills.
"I think if a person is destined to do well he will do it sooner or later," is Jankovic's somewhat philosophical take on it.
While she trained at the well-known Nick Bollettieri tennis academy, Djokovic moved to Germany and Ivanovic to Switzerland to pursue their dreams.
"You can never guess what could happen. The fact is that the tennis facilities we had in Serbia were not the best. We were all talented and wanted to get better. The training facilities abroad were a lot better and we were able to develop our games. Even now we don't have a good tennis centre in Serbia, which I hope we have some day.
"When we were growing up we did not have any inspiration or idols. We did not have any one from our country to look up to. I hope seeing us will motivate the youngsters in our country now.
And this, being an Olympics year, could end up emphasising their contribution to sport in Serbia. The country, which has appeared only twice -- 1920 and 2004 -- in the summer Olympics, is yet to win a medal.
"The Olympics are very special since you get to represent your country. Along with the Grand Slams, this is the most important event. It will be nice to get one of the medals there."
One of the most hard-working players on tour and armed with a tedious but relentless game, Jankovic is one of the few people who smiles easily. She smiles when she's losing, applauds her opponents' shots, talks to God in the middle of the match when she's falling apart; but injured and bruised, she continues, believing in herself and in miracles.
"I think it is very important to have a personality; just be yourself. It is important to have fun while playing tennis. You'll have a difficult time if you don't enjoy your job.
"I am grateful to be playing the game. Though the travel is hectic it's only because we play tennis do we get to see so many places, experience different cultures.
"At the Australian Open this year I had some problems. I got injured, but somehow I had to forget about that. I had to save some match-points [three, against Tamira Paszek in the first round], just believe in myself."
Jankovic, who went on to enter the semi-finals, was also fined during the Grand Slam as her mother was deemed to be coaching her from the sidelines.
"It's funny. The rule says that people in the players' box cannot shout in any other language but English. So even if my mom was just saying that we'll go out for a nice dinner after the match in some other language that would be an offence. I broke the rules, without knowing about it.
"My mom never coaches me. She is my number one supporter, so she keeps encouraging me."
While the Serb fought through injuries at Melbourne, it's a position she's found herself in frequently last year. After snapping the 11-match losing streak in 2006, Jankovic has been playing almost every other week. In 2007, she played more matches than anyone else on tour -- 97 and, hence, when the body could not cope, also had a number of retirements.
"I've never played so much in my career as I did last year," said Jankovic. "I played a lot of matches and was pushing myself a lot. That's where I picked up the injuries. I am definitely going to cut down on the number of tournaments this year.
"I'll continue to work hard and try for better results this time. I am ranked four in the world and still there is a lot of room for improvement in my game, which is a good thing. I am working on my serve and need to keep coming into the net."
A dogged player, Jankovic, is not forceful of her wish of winning a Grand Slam or taking over the number one position in the world.
"That'll be a dream come true," she says. "I don't know which of it is going to come first, but it will be very special if I can win a Grand Slam. I think I will have to win that first so that I'm in the range to become the number one player."
