Serbian tennis player Jelena Janković has won the women’s tournament of the 2009 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women’s Open, commonly known as the Cincinnati Masters. The world number five defeated number one Dinara Safina of Russia.

Janković started out this year as number one but slipped down the rankings after several performances below her usual standard, but she was able to win the US$350,000 first prize. The final score was 6-4, 6-2 in a match that took one hour and forty-five minutes.

“I’m so thrilled to play this kind of match and beat the number one player in the world,” said Janković, who has won only one other event this year. She reached the final after a close-run match against Elena Dementieva that saw her win the final set tie break from 6-2 down.

Safina said that “I think I was a bit off today. Basically, I would say it was not my day today… She played some great tennis today.” She last played Janković at the 2008 Olympics, a match she won.

I’m so thrilled to play this kind of match and beat the number one player in the world.

-Jelena Janković