Perhaps the kindest way to describe the course women’s tennis has taken in 2008 is eventful. The premature retirement of Justine Henin, the demise of Amelie Mauresmo and the prolonged absence of Maria Sharapova makes it seem as though the sport has lost more than it has gained.

Four different Grand Slams have produced as many champions and the world No 1 ranking has been passed around like the proverbial hot potato, nobody seeming to possess either the quality, the consistency or the resilience to maintain the requisite standard necessary to stay at the top.

Many an observer has looked a little askance in the direction of this week’s Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Championships in Doha and considered the fact that come what may, Jelena Janković will finish the year as the world’s top ranked female even though she has yet to win her first major title.

Of the current field, Janković has held the top ranking for six weeks, in two short bursts of the latter half of the year. Her Serbian compatriot Ana Ivanović was in possession for 12 weeks while Serena Williams and Sharapova have also enjoyed brief stays on top since the retirement of Henin in May.

But it certainly seems that if determination is the criteria for keeping the ranking for a lengthy amount of time, then Janković is justifiably in pole position. Every other competitor on the opening day of this year-ending jambouree of the women’s game seemed beset by the problems connected by suddenly playing outdoors again after spending the last month or so at indoor tournaments.

The more the wind gusted off the desert, the louder the excuses came. First from Svetlana Kuznetsova who seemed ill equipped to deal with either the climactic conditions or the greater purpose of her fellow Russian opponent Vera Zvonereva who triumphed 6-2, 6-3 in the opening match. Then Ivanović, who had suffered a wretched time since winning the French Open in June and had only reclaimed any semblance of form by winning the title in Linz a couple of weeks ago, seemed equally disorientated against Janković.

So it was left to Janković, notoriously a player who will resort to any form of excuse to explain why she did not function to the best of her abilities, to show the way it should be done. Initially it seemed as though the breeze might dismantle her serve with three early double faults but she showed she is made of indomitable stuff after all as she shrugged off the difficulties to beat Ivanović for only the second time in nine meetings.

“It's not easy, especially in these conditions with the wind,” said the 23 year-old from Belgrade who won 6-3, 6-4. “This was the first match I've played outdoors for quite a long time because all of the tournaments I played were indoors. When I arrived in Doha it was almost the first time I had seen the sun in two months.”

Darkness had fallen by the time Janković set about extracting revenge for the semi-final exits she had suffered at the hands of Ivanović at both the French Open and Indian Wells this year. In fact she had to look back more than two and a quarter years to her only previous win over her countrywoman but it soon became clear who had the greater will to win.

Ivanović’s new boyfriend, the Spanish top 20 men’s player Fernando Verdasco, sat courtside in support but it almost seemed as though his presence was a distraction rather than a boost. Late in the second set Ivanović seemed close to collapse because of breathing difficulties brought on she thought by the high humidity and subsequent dehydration on her part.

At the other end of the court, Janković just upped the pace and maintained: “I know that I'm confident. I go out there as the No 1 player in the world, and I go out there to play my tennis. That's all I was thinking really.

“I want to be the No 1 player in the world. I want to feel that it's really a challenge. I know all of the players who play against me want to be better than me to steal that spot. Everybody's going after me so it's a bigger challenge.”

One that Jelena Janković seemed more than capable of confronting with successful results.