EARLY YEARS
Jana was born in Halle, Leipzig, in the former East Germany on the 21st September 1976. Her mother, Petra Vogt, now a teacher, was European Champion at 100m and 200m in 1969. Her father Lutz is a planner.
Jana grew up involved in sport. She took up tennis at the age of 8, which is considered late nowadays. Unfortunately tennis was not the first priority of the communist East German sports establishment, and she was only able to play on outdoor courts which were not usable in winter. "And since winter in East Germany lasts about eight months," Jana says. "I only played tennis around four months a year." During the rest of the year she played sports such as basketball. Due to the lack of proper equipment and training, Jana, who is naturally left-handed, was forced to play her tennis as a right-hander - which she still does now.
With German unification the full wealth of western training and facilities opened up to her. However, again Jana did not get all the support she would have liked since many coaches considered her too old at 14, to become a successful player.

PROFESSIONAL CAREER
Jana turned pro in 1995. She gained increasing success in 1997 rising to number 55 in the world. She represented Germany in the 1998 Federation cup match against Spain, where she achieved an upset victory over Conchita Martinez.
In 1999 Jana took a break from tennis for several months in order to complete the qualifying exams for higher education. She has announced that she would like to study to be a veterinary surgeon once her tennis career is over. In this period her tennis ranking slumped to 172.

In 2000 Jana`s ranking slowly rose as she worked her way back, having to fight through testing rounds of qualifying to gain entry to main-draw tournaments.
She did particularly well in the Australian Open that year, reaching the last 16. She was nicknamed "Houdini" by the German press for escaping defeat and winning six straight three-set matches (including qualifying) and saving nine match points during the tournament.
Later in the year, following the injury of Anke Huber, she found herself Germany`s only representative at the Sydney Olympic Women`s Tournament. She performed above her ranking, defeating the fancied Elena Likhovtseva, and reaching the third round where she lost to the eventual gold medalist, Venus Williams.
In 2001 Jana reached the semi-finals of the Estoril open tournament, defeating two seeded clay-court specialists. She went on to gain the biggest victory of her career so far, against fifth ranked Amelie Mauresmo at the French Open in Paris, coming back from 1-5 down in the final set.

INTERESTS
Outside Tennis, Jana enjoys horseriding and music. She also has a pet dog, who lives with her parents when she is on tour. Musically, Jana prefers Brazilian and Cuban music and Hip Hop. She likes to see the sights in the cities she visits on tour. Her favourite tourist destinations are Asia and Latin America. Her favourite city is Sydney Australia. Favourite people include Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Ghandi.
Jana would like to work with animals when she leaves tennis, and has plans to study veterinary medicine.