Tennis remains Serbia's fairy tale

Nov 17, 2008, 8:48 GMT

Belgrade - The triumph of two Serbs at the Shanghai Masters over the weekend, two players on top of global rankings and another two with the throne in sight at the close of the tennis season drove Belgrade newspapers deeper into euphoria on Monday.

'Shanghai fairy tale,' 'Serbia's pride,' 'Serbian Shanghai,' and 'Best in the world' are some of the headlines in the newspapers, many of which allowed tennis to dominate front-pages instead of the usual, often grim political stories.

Novak Djokovic claimed the Shanghai title to come within a shot of Roger Federer and the number two ATP ranking, while Zimonjic, who won the title with Canadian partner Daniel Nestor, ascended to the doubles' number one position for the first time in his career.

Normally overshadowed by the singles stars, Zimonjic got his fair shair of limelight with the triumph he added to the win at Wimbledon and several other titles. 'Zimonjic is the best in the world,' says a huge headline in the daily Press.

Jelena Jankovic faltered in the Shanghai final, still secured the number one WTA ranking until 2009.

Ana Ivanovic ended the season ranked fifth by WTA, after being on top briefly following the retirement of Belgian Justine Henin.

Though Ana appears to have been free-falling since her Australian Open title, Serbian media have found consolation in her still good ranking and the informal title of the world's prettiest athlete.

Overall, Serbian tennis players won a total of 17 titles in the season - Zimonjic six, Djokovic and Jankovic four each and Ivanovic three - achieving 'a feat for the history,' the daily Blic concluded.