Indian Wells blog: Jankovic stops by

INDIAN WELLS, Calif. – Periodically during the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, FOXSports.com will highlight blog-style interviews with some of the WTA's premier players, as told to Matt Cronin. Keep checking back for the latest entries.

March 11 -- Jelena Jankovic

Former No. 1 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia, who is seeded No. 6 at the BNP Paribas Open, blogs for FOXSports.com at Indian Wells on her recent struggles and what brings her happiness off court:

I've been working hard in practice and feel better every day. Today, I was like another player, two levels better than I've been. I know I can do it, but I feel like I'm losing my concentration and can't focus for a long period of time. I can play well for a couple of games and then really bad for a couple of games. Maybe it's a lack of matches. I have to be able to concentrate in practice first and then know I can do it in matches, too.

Today in practice, I even got applause from the crowd, and that's unusual. When does that ever happen? So I was doing a really good job.

My game is coming together, but it's been a struggle during the last year. I've had a couple of good tournaments, but not to the level that I can play. I've done it before, and it's a matter of working and staying positive. I also have to improve, make those little steps forward. If I you don't do that, you go backward and your game starts falling apart. Then you don't enjoy it and it's not fun.

You have to stay mentally tough and optimistic, but in a realistic way. You can't hide when you are doing something wrong and pretend that it's right. You have to change and be realistic. Then, when you begin to move better, hit the ball better, you can find motivation and the will to get on court. Until then, you don't feel like getting out there, because you are playing so badly and are miserable.

I just turned 25, and I've been on the tour so many years and played so many matches, Our season is so long that even in our offseason, which is short, you are training and your body wears out. It's not how old you are, but how many miles you have put on your body and how many hours you've been out there. Many days, you wake up and everything hurts. You feel slow and heavy. A couple of years ago, I never got tired, I could run around the court and travel all over the place, and now I'm really feeling it.

You have to find ways to stay motivated, and that's why I admire Roger Federer, because he never gets injured or tired or lacks motivation. It's amazing. People think you are at the top of the game and you can be there for 10 years and it's really hard. Even if you really love the sport, your body can't do it. And then your game starts breaking down, you're getting injured and your mind isn't there either. It's tough.

What makes me happy these days is the house I'm building in San Diego. I went there the week before Indian Wells with my dad, and it gives me another perspective. Sometimes, I get down on myself and I see the house and it's a dream home and it shows me that I've done a really good job to be able to have the money to build this house.

I don't know why I'm getting upset losing tennis matches. It isn't like I'm really sick, and it isn't going to take away that I was No. 1 or what I've done in my career. To make enough money to have built a 20,000-square foot house, that's a really good job. It has a pool, a 10-car garage, gym, tennis court and theater. I have no idea what I have in there, it's so big.

I hope to move in by the end of the year. My plan is to spend more of my time in San Diego. It has a nice climate, people are laid-back and I can go to L.A., Mexico and Las Vegas if I want because they are close.

When I think of the house, I start to think, "Why can't I go on court and just enjoy my tennis?" Losing a match is not the end of the world, and it puts things in a different perspective. I have goals, but I don't have to beat myself up and think I've never done anything or don't know how to play. Everyone has negative thoughts and thinks they are off and don't know what they are doing. You can change your mentality and just play and when you don't feel like playing, it's better not to go on court and do a terrible job.

In our 3-2 Fed Cup loss to Russia at home, it was unfortunate that Ana Ivanovic couldn't win one of her singles matches, because that's what we were going for, to win the three singles matches because we weren't counting on doubles. I was really happy that I beat Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova, whom I had never beaten before.

Ana was nervous, but everyone is nervous and you care so much because you to want to win, but she couldn't get her game together. But she's not the only one who is struggling, We're not really good doubles players, and we lost to Kuznetsova and Kleybanova in doubles. We didn't know each other's games, what ball to take, and we got confused. We were all over the place. We didn't know how to play together as team.

I hope to a have a long career, and when I retire, I would like to help some kids and share my tennis experience, but not on a daily basis. I don't want to coach and be on the tour every day. I want to have a normal life, be at home and have another business, but I will give something back to tennis, because it's been what I've done well most of my life.