Fourth seed Jelena Jankovic and eighth seed Serena Williams battle Saturday for the Sony Ericsson Open Miami tennis title.
Jankovic is playing her first final in seven events so far this season, having been a quarterfinalist three times and a semifinalist three times; she is 5-8 in Tour singles finals coming in, which contains a 2-1 record at the Tier I level (all three Tier I finals coming in 2007, winning Charleston and Rome but finishing runner-up at Toronto to Henin).
Jankovic has a shot at reaching the No.2 ranking for the first time, having to win the title on Saturday to do so; she rose to No.3 after Roland Garros last June and stayed there the rest of 2007, and since the beginning of this season has gone back and forth between the No.3 and No.4 ranking (see Ranking Projections below).
Williams is playing her second final in three events so far this season, having been a quarterfinalist once (falling to Jankovic in Melbourne) and winning one title; she is 29-11 in Tour singles finals coming in, and 8-5 at the Tier I level (she was 1-1 in Tier I finals in 2007, winning Miami but finishing runner-up at Moscow to Dementieva).
Williams is the second-most successful player in Miami history, since the event began in 1985; she has won the second-most amount of titles (with four in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2007; Graf won five in 1987, 1988, 1994, 1995 and 1996); she has also won the second-most amount of matches at this tournament (with 46; Graf won 59).
Jankovic and Williams were both on the brink of losing earlier in the fortnight; Jankovic was down 5-1 in the third set and saved five match points in the third set tie-break during a 67(2) 62 76(9) win over Sofia Arvidsson in her opener; Williams was down a set and 3-0 to Flavia Pennetta in the third round before prevailing, 67(6) 63 62.
Prize money milestones after this tournament include Lindsay Davenport becoming the first player in Tour history to pass $22 million (she is currently one of three to have surpassed $21 million, alongside Graf and Navratilova); Serena passing Venus for No.6 on the all-time career prize money list; and Jankovic passing the $4 million mark. (WTA)
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