To Beijing and Back

Professional tennis players are accustomed to surmounting obstacles, but this year, many players at the US Open are trying to overcome a common hindrance.

Jet lag.

Jetting to Beijing and back was a memorable experience for the world’s best tennis players, but the consensus is that they could have done without the aftereffects of jet lag.

“I’m still trying to get over the jet lag,” said Serena Williams in her pre-tournament press conference.

“Venus seems like she isn’t having a problem, but I don’t handle jet lag as well as she does. Hopefully it won’t be an issue.”

Unlike some players, Jelena Jankovic went back to her country after the Olympics and then flew to New York, making the time zone adjustment twice as hard.

“After Beijing I went to Serbia, so it’s six hours less than in China, and then six hours, another six hours less here, so I’ve been waking up at 6:00 in the morning every morning here,” said the former world No. 1.

“By the time it’s like 7:00 or 8:00 in the evening, I can’t keep my eyes open, so I’m having a hard time.”

Jankovic’s recovery from jet lag was put to the test early as the second seed was scheduled to highlight the opening session of the US Open with a first round match against American Coco Vandeweghe on Monday.

She managed to dispatch the teenager in exactly one hour, but stated afterward that her lack of sleep was starting to catch up with her.

“I’m tired now,” admitted Jankovic in her post-match press conference. “I’m actually falling asleep now. It’s about time for me to go to bed, but when I was on the court, I really didn’t think about sleeping.”

Lindsay Davenport, who has done more than her share of traveling over the fifteen years of her career, believes that while sleep deprivation is hard, tennis players are professionals accustomed to surmounting diverse difficulties.

“I think everyone at the top is well aware of what the summer was going to bring,” said the 92-time WTA Tour champion. “Everyone’s been back from Beijing for eight days at the minimum now, I think everyone is ready for the US Open and kind of concentrating on that now.”

Elena Dementieva, the gold medalist in the singles event at Beijing, just looks at jet lag as another challenge to overcome on the road to a US Open victory.

“It’s just another challenge, and we’ll see if I can handle it.”