10.02.2010.

Hi!

Three days have passed since the end of the Fed Cup tie between Serbia and Russia, the great battle from which we, unfortunately, did not come out as winners. I am dissapointed, and I do not hide it. I know you should always go further and look to the future, but this loss hurts, and the time will heal the pain. The last time I wrote to you I was in Florida, still in dilemma whethere to come to Belgrade, play Fed Cup and thus risk a lot, because the injury I have had (which has not yet fully healed) could become even more problematic, and probably sent me away from the court for a long period of time. But, the heart beat the mind. I decided to go to this journey and fight in the "Belgrade Arena", to give my maximum, so let it be.

And as you all saw, once more I left the heart on the court for Serbia, and accomplished two new victories in the national team, which made me proud of myself. It was not easy. I arrived from the States on Thursday with my father Veselin. That day was a real drama. My mom and team captain Dejan waited for me at the Airport "Nikola Tesla", where I landed at 2.20 PM, and the Official team conference was scheduled for 3 PM. I had not be late, because of the ITF rules. Directly from the airport we went for "Arena" and came there right on time, for the beginning of the Serbian team conference. Although I was very tired, I was glad to see the faces of dear people I hadn't seen for a while, just like the entire Serbian team and reporters. This feeling of being tired immediately dissapeared.
Immediately after the conference I went to see my doctors, where I continued with the treatments I started in the States. I felt much better right after the first treatment, which proved that our doctors were excellent, as well as the team of experts whom I worked with for years, who always treated me with success. That night I wasn't able to sleep until late hours, because of the different time zone in Serbia comparing to the USA.
I completed the first practice in "Arena" on Friday from 3 PM, because before that we had a draw in the city Assembly, where it was decided who was going to play first on Saturday. After the practice in "Arena" I had treatments, and then I joined the Serbian team in the hotel, where we stayed together untill the very end of the match with Russia.
The first day of battle with Russia came, which I entered quite tired, but extremely motivated and focused. It was one of the strangest and most interesting matches I ever played in the career. My rival Kleybanova is a player with the strongest shot on WTA tour. I knew it was going to be tough, and so it was. I lost the previous two matches against her, but this time I managed to beat her. Although the first part of the match Kleybanova was better, somehow I found the strength to change the situation on my behalf. I neutralized her huge lead and with 11 games won in a row I reached a great victory and won the first point for Serbia. The atmosphere was great, and the crowd cheered for me with fantastic enthusiasm which gave me strength to win the match.

There was not much time for rest. Within 15 hours there was another match, this time with Kuznetsova. I gave a task to myself saying that I must use all the knowlegde I have on the court, and also all the strenght at disposal, and win in this very important match for Serbia, which would get us to the lead, and bring only one step away from the victory. I solved that task in the nicest possible manner - by victory. Unfortunately, the end of the day wasn't like its' beginning. The decision on the victory was made in the doubles, where we were out of luck. One reason was exhaustion, and the other the fact that we weren't used to playing together. Well, it was what is was. There is no return.
The draw in London decided that our play off match on April 24th and 25th was to be played in Belgrade against Slovakia, for the surival in the World group A. Three years ago we played that famous match against them in Kosice. I will never forget the match against Cibulkova, which lasted for three hours and 32 minutes, when I, in the end, two points from the victory, due to fiber rupture on my left leg, was forced to play only on one leg and eventually reached the goal - winning a point for Serbia. It was something really unforgettable, just like the atmosphere created by the Slovaks. We were like in a center of hell, the 15 of us against 6000 crazy home fans. The Slovakian team is now almost the same like three years ago, and they are not easy nor tough opponent. It is a sort of a middle, which I think we can win at home, without much trouble. It seems that the time came for the revenge for the loss in Kosice.

Last night I was at Oscar of popularity award ceremony, at Sava center in Belgrade, where I received a statue as the best Serbian athlete in 2009. I was surprised by this award, because I expected it would go to swimmer Nadja Higl, for the everything she achieved during the last year. And, really, she was fantastic with all those gold medals she won. But, I realize that I had good results too, maybe not like in the season 2008. which I ended as the number one on WTA tour. There were great victories, too, especially for the national team in Fed Cup, which was, I presume, a key factor for the voters in this Oscar competition. I enjoyed last night in Sava center, and it was an honour to be among all those laureats and share with them beautiful moments.

I travel to Dubai tomorrow, where a new tournament waits. As I said on a press conference three days ago, from now on I work without a coach, since I ended cooperation with Ricardo Sanchez. The goal is to return to my old game, which I had during the best results, and I believe I'm on the right track. I will work only with sparring partner, and with me there will always be, just like so far, one of the members of my family. After Dubai, there is a tour in the States, and two important tournaments - Indian Wells and Miami.
Thank you for the endless support, for those who cheered for me in "Arena", and for others who watched me on TV.
It is up to me to continue with good work, and with an effort to be even better, so that I could justify your and my expectations.

Loves you,
your JJ