2003 - Made first appearances in Luxembourg qualifying and on ITF Circuit.
2004 - First Top 100 season; played four Tour main draws, falling 1r at Vienna and Birmingham then reaching 2r at Zürich (as No.156 qualifier, overcame 5-1 third set deficit and 2mp to d. No.29 Golovin in 1r, falling to No.11 V.Williams 76(11) 76(6), having had 5sp in first set and 3sp in second set) and first QF at Luxembourg; won five singles titles on ITF Circuit; made Top 100 debut on November 1 (after Luxembourg; rose from No.112 to No.96); made biggest ranking jump of any player in 2004 (608 spots).
2005 - First Top 20 season; won first Tour singles title at Canberra (d. Czink in final round of qualifying and in main draw final, believed to be a Tour first); SF three times, at Warsaw (l. to Henin), Zürich and Linz (l. to Schnyder at both); QF twice, at Miami and
Roland Garros (first Grand Slam QF; l. to Petrova); debuted at all four majors; notched first three Top 10 wins, at Miami (No.7 Kuznetsova), Warsaw (No.10 Zvonareva) and
Roland Garros (No.3 Mauresmo); made Top 50 debut on March 7 (after Dubai; rose from No.58 to No.50) and Top 20 debut on July 4 (after Wimbledon; rose from No.21 to No.20).
2006 - Second Top 20 season; won second Tour singles title at Montréal (d. Hingis in final); QF seven times, at Sydney (d. No.3 Mauresmo en route for fourth Top 10 win), Indian Wells, Warsaw (d. No.8 Schnyder en route for fifth Top 10 win), 's-Hertogenbosch, Los Angeles, Linz and Hasselt; best Grand Slam was 4r at
Wimbledon (l. to Mauresmo); by virtue of Los Angeles QF and Montréal title, clinched
US Open Series.
2007 - First Top 5 season, highlighted by third through fifth Tour singles titles and first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros; won titles at Berlin (d. Kuznetsova in final), Los Angeles (d. Jankovic 46 63 75 in SF after trailing 4-1 third set and saving 2mp down 5-4; d. Petrova in final) and Luxembourg (d. Hantuchova 36 64 64 in final; trailed 63 30); runner-up twice, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (l. to Hingis in final) and
Roland Garros (l. to Henin in final; was first player representing Serbia, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam singles final); SF three times, at Amelia Island (l. to Golovin),
Wimbledon (d. Vaidisova 46 62 75 in QF, having trailed 5-3 third set and 3mp at 5-4; l. to V.Williams) and first Tour Championships (went 2-1 in RR stage; l. to Henin in SF); notched 12 Top 10 wins during season, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (No.10 Jankovic), Amelia Island (No.9 Jankovic), Berlin (No.4 Kuznetsova),
Roland Garros (No.3 Kuznetsova, No.2 Sharapova),
Wimbledon (No.9 Petrova, No.10 Vaidisova), Los Angeles (No.3 Jankovic, No.9 Petrova), Luxembourg (No.10 Hantuchova) and Tour Championships (No.2 Kuznetsova, No.9 Hantuchova); having begun year No.14, made Top 10 debut on May 14 (after Berlin; rose from No.16 to No.8), Top 5 debut on July 9 (after Wimbledon; rose from No.6 to No.5) and peaking at No.4 on August 13 (after Los Angeles); QF four times, at Gold Coast, Sydney, Antwerp and 's-Hertogenbosch; suffered eight pre-QF losses in 20 events, incl.
Australian Open (l. to Zvonareva in 3r) and
US Open (l. to V.Williams in 4r).
2008 - Second straight Top 5 season, highlighted by winning first Grand Slam title at
Roland Garros and ascending to No.1, then rebounding from injury-marred mid-season to finish strongly; started season 27-6, a stretch highlighted by winning sixth and seventh Tour singles titles at Indian Wells (as top seed, d. No.3 seed Jankovic and No.2 seed Kuznetsova in SF and final) and
Roland Garros (as No.2 seed, d. No.3 seed Jankovic in SF in match where No.1 ranking was on the line, then d. No.13 seed Safina in final) and runner-up finish at
Australian Open (as No.4 seed, l. to No.5 seed Sharapova in final); also SF twice, at Sydney (as No.4 seed, l. to top seed and eventual champion Henin in 3s) and Berlin (as No.2 seed, l. to No.7 seed Dementieva 62 75; held sp at 5-4 second set) and QF once, at Dubai (as No.3 seed, l. to No.8 seed and eventual champion Dementieva in 3s); only three pre-QF exits during first half of season came at Doha (as top seed, withdrew before 3r vs. No.16 seed A.Radwanska w/left ankle injury), Miami (as No.2 seed, l. to No.32 seed Davenport in 3r) and Rome (as top seed w/1r bye, l. to qualifier Pironkova in 3s in 2r); having come into 2008 at No.4, rose to No.3 on January 14 (after Sydney), No.2 on January 28 (after
Australian Open) and No.1 on June 9 (after Roland Garros; was 17th of now 18 world No.1s since rankings began in 1975); struggled mid-season, a right thumb injury hampering her preparations as she went 5-6 in next six events, falling early at
Wimbledon (as top seed, l. to WC Zheng in 3r) and not winning back-to-back matches in her next five events, at Montréal (as top seed w/1r bye, l. to Paszek in 3s in 3r),
US Open (as top seed, l. to qualifier Coin in 3s in 2r), Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (as No.2 seed w/1r bye, l. to Petrova in 3s in 2r), Beijing (as No.2 seed w/1r bye, l. to Zheng in 3s in QF) and Moscow (as No.4 seed w/1r bye, l. to Cibulkova 36 62 76(4) in 2r; held 2mp at 5-4 third set); also withdrew from Olympics w/right thumb injury; rebounded in last two events of regular season, going 6-1 in reaching SF at Zürich (as No.2 seed, l. to No.3 seed and eventual champion V.Williams in 3s) and winning eighth Tour singles title at Linz (as top seed, d. No.2 seed Zvonareva in final); fell in RR stage in second straight Tour Championships (as No.4 seed, went 0-2 in RR, falling to No.1 seed Jankovic and No.8 seed Zvonareva in 3s, then withdrew from tournament w/viral illness); withdrew from Eastbourne w/right adductor injury; represented Serbia in Europe/Africa Group I play-offs (went 4-1) and World Group II play-off win vs. Croatia (1-0).
