Federer Aims for the Top As Jankovic's Confidence Hits Rock Bottom

Roger Federer and Jelena Jankovic are trying to climb back to the respective world No1 spots, but after the Swiss won and the Serb lost in the second round at Indian Wells it became clear they are on different paths.

Federer is sure he knows what he has to do: win one or two big points against Rafael Nadal at the grand slams. Jankovic does not seem to have a clue.

As the Serb is far from dumb – she has studied at Belgrade University and speaks fluent English and French – it is sad to see her look as lost and helpless as she did under the lights on the Stadium Court against the tall Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Jankovic looked like a novice at times as she tried to deal with her opponent's sweeping, power-drive ground strokes. She lost 6-4, 6-4.

The problem seems to be that Jankovic undertook a heavy training routine during the off season in December and put on a good deal of weight and although the extra weight is muscle rather than fat it has made her less mobile.

"I did a lot of endurance and put on all this weight," she said. "In Australia I felt so much heavier on court. I couldn't move. I got so much slower. I lost the first step and then everything falls apart. I finished last year as world No1, playing some great tennis, especially towards the end. This year I'm not the same player."

When she was asked what she was going to do about it, Jankovic just looked perplexed. "I don't know – go back to [Nick]Bollettieri's camp in Florida and train and think about it, I suppose," she said.

Federer, obviously excited at the prospect of becoming a father in the summer, was much chirpier after beat the Frenchman Marc Gicquel 7-6, 6-4.

"I'm pretty happy now that I've bounced back from my sickness last year," he said, before giving an interesting insight into how he thinks the game has changed since he first started playing 10 years ago.

"Everyone had some sort of weakness in their game back when I started," Federer said. "Maybe they had a massive forehand but a weak backhand. There was always a place you could go to find a weakness. Quite a few players had weak serves; terrible techniques. Today you don't see that. Everybody can hit a good serve, a good forehand, and a good backhand. I think the changes came along with the change of strings. We have more pace now, more angles, whereas before we hit it flat and hard and attacked down the line."

Federer was referring to the introduction of the Luxilon synthetic string that many players, including Federer, use half and half with real gut. It takes more spin, enabling players to go for their shots with greater confidence of keeping the ball in court. Despite those tears in Melbourne Federer still has lots of confidence. Poor Jankovic seems to have none.