INDIAN WELLS — Life high on a hill atop Rancho Santa Fe soon is to begin for Jelena Jankovic. Would that her tennis have similar elevation. Jankovic’s game has been askew since she began the 2009 season as the ranking player on the WTA Tour, but no player around here was talking more animatedly yesterday than the Serbian woman. It’s not tennis that excites her as much as the prospect of occupying the home she is having built in Rancho Santa Fe. Jankovic said she visited the site before coming here for the BNP Paribas Open. “They were putting the roof on. It’s like a dream come true,” she said of a home that, by her measurements, is to have three levels with 20,000 square feet of living space and have a garage large enough for 10 vehicles. “I have five (cars) for now,” said Jelena, who evidently does a lot of driving. Jankovic became aware of the joys of living in the San Diego area when she was competing in tennis events at La Costa. “I picked a lot on a hill,” she said. Its cost, according to San Diego County records: $1.5 million. Jelena advised her architect the place must include a tennis court (it does). “And I wanted a big master bedroom and a huge bathroom,” she said. Done. She is hopeful of moving in by the end of the year. Jankovic’s season, meantime, has not begun positively, with a first-round loss (to Agnes Szavay ) at Sydney and a third-round defeat (to Alona Bondarenko ) at the Australian Open. “But I am working hard,” she said. “I feel every day I am getting better and better. I want to work on coming forward.” Jankovic is the No. 6 seed here. Nothing all that dramatic is apt to occur in the opening round of a tennis tournament with a 96-player draw that hands out 32 seeds and awards all 32 byes. The women’s phase of the Paribas did, however, show off a Justine Henin who soundly eliminated Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-2. “I need tennis; I need to play,” said Henin. “Emotionally, I feel much better when I am playing.”

Rancho Santa Fe lifestyle just got that much sweeter. North County foodies can’t get enough of the new Dolce Pane E Vino wine bar and restaurant, which celebrated a soft opening in RSF’s Del Rayo Center in late 2009, and has since become a neighborhood favorite. Dolce serves handmade small plates of Italian favorites for lunch and dinner, including wood-fired pane rusticos and Panini sandwiches, paired with a tempting wine list designed by Sommelier Michael Melone. Chef Chris O’Donnell is a firm believer in farm-to-table traditions, and makes daily trips to local farms–specifically to the nationally famous Chino’s farm– to ensure the freshest ingredients every day. For those on the go, the attached Dolce Formaggeria wraps up signature small plates and bottles of wine for convenient quick stops.

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It’s been enormously productive. Part of it is just being in the environment, around the lexicon of the game, the strategy of the game and just talking baseball. Because baseball is so intimate, I have had the opportunity to talk with a lot of people. I had dinner with manager Bud Black and then with general manager Jed Hoyer. And just being able to go up to a player or a coach and they’ll give you time has been helpful. I’ve tried to keep as much contact as possible and keep my ears open.

I have seen you outside watching workouts on the field, watching pitchers throw off the mound and watching hitters in the cage. It seems you’re really getting a kick out of this experience.

Last night my wife called and we’re talking and she said, “I can tell it in your voice, you are really happy.” For me, it’s really been the right call at the right time. The other day I was watching Dave Roberts [former player, now special assistant to baseball operations] school some of the young guys on stealing bases. He’s talking about taking a lead, how not to get caught by the left-hander’s move. These are all the things I love about baseball. It’s a perfect time to be here. You can talk to so many people here without the pressure of a game later in the day.

This won’t be your first time being a play-by-play broadcaster for a Major League baseball team. Tell me about your experience calling California Angels games (1969-1978 and again in 1985)

I resisted it initially, even though it’s my favorite sport and my favorite game. But at the time, I was doing the pre- and postgame show on the Angels telecasts, which allowed me to do some little essays and interviews. I had a half-hour show and it was only me. I was doing the Rams radio, I was the UCLA television broadcaster, I was doing boxing from the Olympic Auditorium and the sports on the newscast in the evenings. I had a wonderful, full plate. They told me that if I took baseball, I would have to give up these other things. I said how about if I do it one year? I tried to quit my first year. The Angels were terrible. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed.

You started working with Don Drysdale in 1973, doing the Angels games. What was that experience like?

When Don Drysdale became my partner … life became brilliant. It didn’t matter if you were winning or losing. With Drysdale, the broadcasts were fun. Being with Don … he wouldn’t let you get down. I would take the losses too seriously and he would say, “C’mon professor” — he would always call me professor — “they don’t care, so you shouldn’t care. I’ll buy you a drink.” I’ve been fortunate to have so many great colleagues. With baseball, you’re with that man more than in any other sport. He was always happy. It was a shame he went too quickly.

You didn’t arrive at the decision to accept this job calling games for the Padres easily, did you?

There were a lot of brain cells burned trying to think this through. I have an ESPN deal where I do three of the [tennis] majors — the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French — and also the NFL package on CBS. I had shaped my life perfectly. There had been a few flirtations about baseball in the past. But how could I greedily keep doing the things I had been doing and do baseball? I learned in 1985, when Gene Autry hired me back to do 40 games, that baseball is a day-to-day-to-day games. You can’t just do a game here and a game there and miss two weeks.

With that in mind, how did you reach an agreement for a schedule that would allow for 120 or so Padres games while still doing the Australian Open and Wimbledon?

After the initial discussions, their original thought was they would structure a schedule where I did the games within the division and home games. That was a wonderful concession on their part. We gave it a lot of thought and said if I’m going to do this, I’m going to do it. We came back and said, ‘What if we do all the games, except the US Open?” I felt like if I’m going to be the announcer, I want to be the announcer.

What are some of the things you’re looking to most this season?

Had the Yankees, Red Sox or any other club called and offered me the same opportunity, I would have said, “No, thanks.” To be one of the baseball announcers in your hometown is important and it played a major part of this decision. When you think about the impact a baseball announcer has in his hometown, how many hours he’s on the air, it’s like 600 hours maybe, where you are exposed to your community — you’re an ambassador to your community. I really relish the opportunity to play that role. I look forward to a perfectly executed double play. There’s a rhythm and artistry about a double play that’s a beautiful thing. It’s four seconds and two outs, but it’s so much more than that. My creative juices are flowing. I was kidding with Bud Black and said, “Hey, look what I did for John Wooden.” [Enberg called eight of the Bruins' NCAA championship seasons].

WASHINGTON (AP) Housing construction posted a better-than-expected increase in January, which pushed activity to the highest level in six months.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that construction of new homes and apartments rose 2.8 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 591,000 units. That was better than the 580,000 annual pace that economists had forecasted.

Applications for building permits, considered a good barometer of future activity, fell 4.9 percent to a rate of 621,000, but that was after two months of large increases.

In another sign of strength, Wednesdays report revised upward data in December to show builders were starting construction at an annual pace of 575,000 units during that month, much stronger than the 557,000 originally reported. Even with the upward revision, activity was down 0.7 percent in December from the month before, a dip that was blamed on severe weather in many parts of the country that depressed construction activity.

Economists are hoping that housing is beginning to recover and a rebound in this area will help support the economy as it struggles to mount a sustained recovery from the deepest recession since the 1930s.

Januarys results were led by a 10 percent jump in activity in the Northeast and an 8.9 percent increase in the West. Construction was up a smaller 1 percent in the South and 3.2 percent in the Midwest.

The strength in January pushed construction activity up by 21.1 percent from the pace in January 2009. Last months building rate the fastest pace since July.

Construction of single-family homes rose 1.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 484,000 units while construction of multi-family units increased 9.2 percent to an annual rate of 107,000 units.

In other favorable developments, mortgage rates are hovering around 5 percent, pushed down by a Federal Reserve program to buy mortgage-backed securities. And builders say they are also seeing a boost in the demand for homes coming from a government stimulus program. That program provides tax credits of up to $8,000 for first-time home buyers and up to $6,500 for current homeowners who decide to move.

In another economic report, industrial production rose 0.9 percent in January, the seventh consecutive monthly increase as manufacturers help lead the nations recovery.

The Federal Reserve reported Wednesday that Januarys numbers rose in all three major categories: manufacturing, mining and energy utilities. That is the first such show of strength since August 2009.

It says manufacturing rose 1.0 percent, while mining and utilities each gained 0.7 percent.

The results are a more meaningful sign of economic progress than Decembers number, which the Fed revised up to 0.7 percent from the 0.6 percent reported earlier.

That increase was driven by weather-related increases in utility production, while manufacturing posted a 0.1 percent loss.

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