Former world number one Jelena Jankovic suffered a 6-1 6-3 first-round loss to Mona Barthel at the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships and the impression is that retirement is not a distant future for the veteran.
At her previous tournament, the Qatar Total Open in Doha, the world No.50 Jankovic had to go through qualifying for the first time since 2004 and after winning three qualifying matches, she fell at the first hurdle in the main draw, losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-1 6-4.
Facing the disappointing truth that qualifying matches and early exists are now her reality, Jankovic hinted that retirement is possible, but only if defeats turn out to be persistent.