Bojana Jovanovski ended the 2010 season as the youngest player in the top 100. On the court, however, the Serbian No. 3 has spent much of her professional career in the shadow of her more accomplished countrywomen, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic.

At the Australian Open this year, Jovanovski was the last Serbian standing as she made the fourth round; even then, however, few were actually talking about her tennis. Instead, her distinctive grunt (which sounds something akin to a sneeze), proved to be the showpiece in an error-filled three-set loss to Sloane Stephens.

Last week, Jovanovski was again in the headlines, but for her tennis. She picked up her second career WTA title in Tashkent, defeating Olga Govortsova in the final by a 4-6, 7-5, 7-6(3) scoreline.

But she almost didn't make it even into the event.

Jovanovski missed the main draw entry deadline for the tournament and, as a result, the world No. 58 was forced to qualify for a spot. To put things in perspective the number two seed in qualifying behind the Serbian was Daria Gavrilova who is ranked nearly 100 spots below her.

Unfortunately for Jovanovski, she has become quite familiar with scheduling mishaps.

In 2011 as a teenager, Jovanovski made headlines off court following her scheduled trip to the famed Southern California Open in Carlsbad, California. Instead of arriving in sunny California though, Jovanovski found herself 900 miles away in Carlsbad, … New Mexico. She arrived in the correct Carlsbad mere hours before her match against Roberta Vinci, a three-set match she ended up losing.

On the other hand, the mix-up in Tashkent didn't seem to bother Jovanovski too much, and she won all three of her qualifying matches without dropping a set. In accordance with WTA rules, she was elevated to the No. 1 seeded position in Tashkent upon qualifying due to her ranking as the main draw had not been made yet. From there, she battled her way to the title; she was two points from losing against Galina Voskoboeva in the quarterfinals before rallying to win in a third-set tiebreak, and came back from a break down to see off Govortsova in the final.

At two hours and 56 minutes, the final in Tashkent is currently the longest final on the WTA this season. Despite not being a “qualifier” in the truest sense of the word, Jovanovski became the first qualifier to win a WTA title since Melanie Oudin in Birmingham last year. Finally, she became the first Serbian to lift the trophy in the 15-year history of the event in the Uzbek capital.

Fast-forward one week, and both Tashkent finalists are not even seeded in the draw of another International event in Guangzhou. To add insult to injury, Jovanovski was drawn to play the top seed, Sorana Cirstea, in the first round; Govortsova had her own problems on the bottom half, as the draw gods dealt her a first round meeting with second seed Alize Cornet.

Tuesday's play in Guangzhou proved to have mixed fortunes for last week's finalists. Govortsova struggled to adapt to the conditions and went down meekly to Cornet, 6-3, 6-1; Jovanovski continued her rich vein of form by defeating Cirstea 6-2, 6-1, for her eighth match win in a row. However, all the long matches over the past week caught up with her in the second round, as she fell to American qualifier Vania King 6-4, 0-6, 6-4.

The post-US Open Asian swing is often an after-thought for many of the sport's top names. For players like Jovanovski however, who spend much of their year in the shadow of others, it's a chance to collect valuable ranking points, earn some extra prize money and even sneak out with a title or two.

Her run to the title in Tashkent was all the more unexpected due to the fact that Jovanovski has had a subpar year. Despite equaling or bettering her career-best performance at all four grand slams, a back injury following the Australian Open hindered her for much of the middle part of the season. Proclaiming herself now healthy, Jovanovski sits just four spots off of her career high ranking of No. 37. With four events still to play in 2013, the Serbian has a chance to end her year on a high note.