Jankovic targets French Open after slow start to season

MADRID (Reuters) - Former world number one Jelena Jankovic believes she can win her first grand slam at this year's French Open after putting poor early season form and personal problems behind her.

After rising to the top of the rankings in August, the 24-year-old Serb has slipped back to number four and struggled with her fitness and the distraction of her mother's ill health.

At a news conference on Saturday ahead of this week's Madrid Open, Jankovic said her game was improving all the time.

"I'm starting to get back into form which is very important to me," she said.

"I was the best player in the world at the end of 2008 but I couldn't keep that up in 2009. The fitness work I did in my off-season didn't work out.

"In the past my movement was one of my biggest weapons and I was always one of the fastest players for my size. But I put on some muscle during the off-season and I wasn't used to it."

Jankovic said she was ready to concentrate fully on tennis again after her mother's recovery from illness and was aiming to better her performance at the French Open, where she has reached the last four in the past two years.

"I'm not thinking about Roland Garros at the moment but if I have good form and I'm physically fit then I think I have a good chance," she said. "That is my goal and I think I can achieve that."

Fourth seed Jankovic plays Spaniard Nuria Llagostera Vives in the first round of the Madrid clay tournament.