News

Bordentown, NJ – June 18, 2007 – Two of the world’s top female tennis players grabbed their Prince O3 racquets and headed out to center court to battle it out for the DFS Classic title yesterday in Birmingham, England. In the end, it was the tournament’s second seed, Jelena Jankovic, who came out victorious, upsetting top seed Maria Sharapova in a tough three set final. For both players, this was actually their second match of the day, as rain backed up matches throughout the tournament. The semi-finals, earlier in the day saw four Team Prince players compete as Jankovic defeated recent French Open doubles champion Mara Santangelo (ITA) 6-1, 7-5, while Sharapova reached the final courtesy of a 7-5, 6-0 victory over Marion Bartoli (FRA).

Using tennis’s top selling racquet, the O3 White, Sharapova jumped out to an early lead after taking the first set 6-4. After going down a break in the second, Jankovic, with her new Ozone Seven, clawed her way back to 3-3 and then went on to win the last three games of the set to take the second, 6-3. The third set saw Jankovic go down 0-3 before winning the next three games to even the set at three games apiece. The two players then went back and forth until the eleventh game of the third set, when Jankovic finally broke Sharapova and then went on to serve out the match.

For Jelena, who is currently ranked #1 in the world in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, this was the first event she has entered since making the switch from the O3 Red to the Ozone Seven – one of the three new Ozone racquets Prince recently introduced to its expanding O3 line of racquets. With the win, Jankovic notches her fourth title of the season and her first-ever grass court championship.

“I am very happy with this win,” said Jankovic after the match. “I was losing for most of the match but I stayed positive and was able to win my first grass court title and the first event with my new racquet. I guess I am undefeated with the Ozone, hopefully it can stay that way!”

Since making the switch to a racquet with O3 technology, Jankovic has climbed 45 spots and with a recent semi-final appearance at Roland Garros , a title run in Rome and another tournament title in her first grass court event, the 22-year-old Serb heads toward Wimbledon with confidence and excitement.

“It is great to see Jelena playing so well and a thrill to see her win an event immediately after picking up the Ozone,” said Linda Glassel, VP of Marketing and Communications at Prince. “We are excited to celebrate many more titles with Jelena. So many players are raising their game by switching to O3 and to have two of the world’s elite players battling it out with O3 racquets is a true testament to the technology.”

Since being introduced, O3 racquets have helped players capture over 200 ATP and WTA tour events including seven Grand Slam titles. There are now close to 100 pros who join Jankovic and Sharapova in using the patented, revolutionary technology that transformed traditional pin sized string holes into giant O-ports for increased racquet speed, larger sweet spot and greater stability.