Serbian sports highlights of 2008

Serbia was defeated by USA in the Hopman Cup final.

Perth, AUSTRALIA, January 4, 2008 - Serbia lost to the United States in a deciding mixed doubles of the Hopman Cup final.
The U.S. led 1-0 after Jelena Jankovic forfeited her singles against Serena Williams because of a leg injury.
World number three Novak Djokovic had levelled the tie with a three-set win over Mardy Fish in the men's singles, 6-2, 6-7, 7-6.
Jankovic returned for the mixed doubles but the U.S. hit back from 4-1 down in the first set to win it 7-6, 6-2 and clinch their fifth Hopman Cup title.

Ana Ivanovic was defeated by Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova in the final match of the Australian Open.

Melbourne, AUSTRALIA, January 26, 2008 - Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic was defeated by Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova, 5-7, 3-6, in the final match of the Australian Open.
Sharapova broke Ivanovic's serve in the fifth game of the first set and soon led 4-2. Ana broke back in the eighth game, took a 5-4 lead and had the Russian on the ropes, but Maria escaped from a 0-30 deficit.
Sharapova broke Ivanovic's serve again in the 11th game and then successfully served for the set.
The second set went with serve until at 3-3. Sharapova won the final three games, finishing with a net approach that forced Ivanovic to make mistake.

Novak Djokovic beat Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to become the first Serb to win a Grand Slam singles title.

Melbourne, Jan 27, 2008 – Novak Djokovic beat unseeded French Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 4-6 6-4 6-3 7-6 (7-2) to become the first Serb to win a Grand Slam singles title.
Djokovic took advantage of a few imprecise forehand shots by his opponent and although Tsonga took the first set, Djokovic responded well to the setback.
During the second set, Djokovic improved his serve, played an excellent seventh game and set up a break point to take the lead.
Djokovic played tactically in the third set. Tsonga survived two break points but soon he found himself 3-1 down.
The 20-years-old from Belgrade held on to take the tie-breaker 7-2, and his first grand slam title.
Nenad Zimonjic won the title in the mixed doubles, playing with Chinese Tiantian Sun to triumph over the Indian team Mahesh Bhupathi and Sania Mirza 7-6(4), 6-4. This is the second title for Zimonijc in Melbourne, after winning the same title in 2004 when he teamed up with Russian Elena Bovina.

Milorad Cavic won the 50-meter butterfly title at the European swimming championships in Eindhoven.

Eindhoven, NETHERLANDS, March 19, 2008 - Milorad Cavic won the 50-meter butterfly title at the European swimming championships in Eindhoven.
Serbian swimmer also improved upon his European record time of 23.25 from yesterday. Cavic finished in 23.11 to beat defending champion Sergiy Breus of Ukraine, who was second in 23.48. Rafael Munoz Perez of Spain was third in 23.60.

Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic won the Indian Wells tennis titles.

Indian Wells, USA, March 23, 2008 - Top-seeded Serbian Ana Ivanovic won the Pacific Life Open WTA title here Sunday with a straight-sets victory over second-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Ivanovic, ranked No. 2, defeated Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3 to claim her sixth career title, first triumph of 2008.
She served five aces and Kuznetsova had none, and Ivanovic hit 29 winners to 14.
Third seed Novak Djokovic defeated unseeded American Mardy Fish with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 victory in the men's singles final match of the same tournament.
Djokovic was the tournament runner-up last year, losing the final to Rafael Nadal. He knocked off No. 2 Nadal in the semifinals this time.
It is Djokovic's ninth career title and comes two months after his Grand Slam win at the Australian Open.
The 20-year-old Serb seemed on his way to an easy victory after winning the first set and going up 4-2 in the second. But Fish came back to win five of the next six games and force a third set.
Djokovic broke Fish's serve in the second game of the final set, then each held serve the rest of the way.

Davor Stefanek claimed a bronze medal at 60 kg at the 2008 Greco-Roman European Championships in Tampere, Finland.

Tampere, FINLAND, April 6, 2008 - Serbia's Davor Stefanek claimed a bronze medal at 60 kg at the 2008 Greco-Roman European Championships in Tampere, Finland.

Novak Djokovic defeated Stanislas Wawrinka in the men's final match of the Rome Masters tennis tournament.

Rome, ITALY, May 11, 2008 - Third seed Novak Djokovic defeated unseeded Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the men's final match of the Rome Masters tennis tournament.
The 20-year-old Serb won the 10th title of his career.
Djokovic's third victory of 2008 will move him within 310 points of second-ranked Rafael Nadal in the ATP rankings.

Jelena Jankovic and Nenad Zimonjic won tennis titles in Rome.

Rome/Hamburg, May 18, 2008 - Fourth-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic defeated French qualifier Alize Cornet, 6-2, 6-2, in the final match of the WTA Rome International.
Jankovic successfully defended a title for the first time in her career with a dominant victory over the 18-year-old Cornet in just under one hour and 30 minutes.
The 23-year-old captured this event last year by beating Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final.
Serbian Nenad Zimonjic and his partner Daniel Nestor of Canada won the doubles at the Hamburg Masters in Germany.
The pair beat Bob and Mike Bryan of United States of America, 6-4, 5-7 and 10-8 for the tiebreak.

Novak Djokovic was defeated in the French Open semifinals, while Nenad Zimonjic was defeated in the final of men's doubles.

Paris, FRANCE, June 6, 2008 - Serbia's Novak Djokovic was defeated by defending champion Rafael Nadal of Spain, 4-6, 2-6, 6-7 (3), in the French Open semifinals.
The king of clay improved to 27-0 at Roland Garros and eliminated Djokovic from the tournament for the third consecutive year. The result prevented Djokovic from overtaking Nadal for the No. 2 ranking.
Victoria Azarenka of Belarus and Bob Bryan of the US won the mixed doubles title, defeating Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia and Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia in straight sets - 6-2, 7-6 (4).

Ana Ivanovic defeated Russia's Dinara Safina to win the women's French Open title on Saturday.

Paris, June 7, 2008 - Serbia's Ana Ivanovic defeated Russia's Dinara Safina, 6-4, 6-3, to win the women's French Open title on Saturday.
It is the first time Ivanovic has won a Grand Slam title.

She will overtake Maria Sharapova at the top of the world rankings on Monday.

Last year's finalist Ivanovic was too powerful for Safina, converting three of her four break points to take the opening set in 45 minutes.

She broke in the third game of the second set, held serve and sealed a straightforward win on Safina's serve when the Russian missed a forehand after one hour and 37 minutes.

Men's national water polo team defeated USA to win FINA World League.

Genoa, ITALY, June 22, 2008 - Serbia won the FINA water polo World League after defeating USA, 7-3 (1-1, 1-0, 2-2, 3-0), in the final match.
Scorers for Serbia were Vladimir Vujasinovic (2), Vanja Udovicic (2), Aleksandar Sapic, Andrija Prlainovic and Danilo Ikodinovic.
In the third place match, Australia beat Montenegro 8-7.

Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Canada's Daniel Nestor won the Wimbledon men's doubles title.

London, ENGLAND, July 5, 2008 - Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and Canada's Daniel Nestor won the Wimbledon men's doubles title on Saturday with a 7-6, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3 win over Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe.
It was the first Grand Slam title for Zimonjic in the men's doubles, while the win was Nestor's fourth Grand Slam win after clinching three with Mark Knowles at the 2002 Australian Open, the 2004 US Open and the French Open in 2007.
Zimonjic took part in the final despite breaking a bone in his left wrist during Thursday's semi-final victory over Leander Paesa and Lukas Dlouhy.

Men's water polo national team of Serbia took silver medal at the European championships in Malaga, Spain.

Malaga, SPAIN, July 13, 2008 - Men's water polo national team of Serbia was defeated by Montenegro in overtime, 5-6 (1-2, 3-0, 0-2, 1-1, 0-1, 0-0), in the final match of the European championships in Malaga, Spain.
In the third place match, Hungary defeated Croatia 15-14 OT.

Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and his partner Daniel Nestor of Canada defeated the American pairing of Bob and Mike Bryan to win the men's doubles final at the Rogers Cup championship in Toronto.

Toronto, CANADA, July 27, 2008 - Nenad Zimonjic of Serbia and his partner Daniel Nestor of Canada defeated the American pairing of Bob and Mike Bryan 6-2, 4-6, 10-6 to win the men's doubles final at the Rogers Cup championship Sunday in Toronto.
Nestor and Zimonjic have captured four titles on the tour this year and have won 14 matches in a row.
They will share the $130,000 prize.

Serbia won silver medal in the men's volleyball World League.

Rio de Janeiro, BRAZIL, July 27, 2008 - Serbia was defeated by USA 1-3 (24-26, 25-23, 23-25, 22-25) in the final match of the volleyball World League in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The Americans are the sixth team in 19 years of World League to win the competition, while Serbia (FR Yugoslavia, Serbia-Montenegro) claimed three silver and two bronze medals in the World League.
Serbia's Ivan Miljkovic was the top scorer of the final match with 28 points.
In the 3rd place match, Russia defeated Brazil 3-1 (25-23, 25-19, 23-25, 25-19).
Individual Awards of the 2008 World League
MVP (most valuable player): Lloy Ball (USA)
Best Scorer: Ivan Miljkovic (Serbia)
Best Spiker: Dante (Brazil)
Best Blocker: Marko Podrascanin (Serbia)
Best Setter: Lloy Ball (USA)
Best Server: Giba (Brazil)
Best Libero: Richard Lambourne (USA)

Serbian athletes won one silver and two bronze medals at the 29th summer Olympic Games in Beijing.

Jelena Jankovic lost to Serena Williams in the US Open final.

Belgrade/New York, Sept 8, 2008 – Serbian tennis player Jelena Jankovic played at the US Open last night, which was her first grand slam final, but lost to Serena Williams 2:0 (6:4, 7:5).
Thanks to the victory in New York, Williams will take over the number one spot in the WTA rankings from Ana Ivanovic, whereas Jankovic will move up to second.

Serbian athletes won two silver medals at the Beijing Paralympics - Borislava Peric in women's table tennis and Drazenko Mitrovic in men’s discus throw.

Serbia will host European championships in handball and volleyball.

Vienna/Madrid, September 27, 2008 - The European Handball Federation (EHF) announced today that Serbia has been awarded the 2012 Men's European Handball Championship.
The national federations of France and Germany also submitted bids for the competition.
Serbia and Italy will co-host the 2011 women's volleyball European championship. This decision was announced at the General Assembly of the European Volleyball Confederation, CEV.

Jelena Jankovic won three title in a row - China Open, Stuttgart Open and Kremlin Cup.

Serbia booked their place in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with two victory against Denmark.

Belgrade, October 15, 2008 - Serbia booked their place in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with a 1-0 victory against Denmark in Belgrade to advance 2-0 on aggregate.
The hosts went ahead on 74 minutes when Marko Milinkovic was sent clear and slotted the ball past Danish goalkeeper to confirm Serbia's place in Sweden.
The line up for the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was completed on Wednesday as Italy, Serbia and Germany won their play-offs to join England, Finland, Belarus and Spain alongside hosts Sweden in next summer's eight-team final tournament.

Ana Ivanovic beat Russian Vera Zvonareva in the final match of the WTA event in Linz.

Linz, AUSTRIA, October 26, 2008 - Top-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia beat Russian second-seeded Vera Zvonareva, 6-2, 6-1, in the final match of the WTA event in Linz, to win her first title since the French Open in June.
The 21-year-old Ivanovic completed the job in just 51 minutes on her first match point.

Novak Djokovic and Nenad Zimonjic won the Masters Cup in tennis.

Milorad Cavic took gold and silver medal at the 12th European Short Course Swimming Championship in Rijeka.