News
Fed Cup preview
Date: January 29th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana and her Serbian team-mates will compete in the Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I event, beginning on Wednesday in Budapest. After the Australian Open’s slow hard court surface, the four-day Fed Cup event will take place on slick indoor carpet.
A total of 15 nations, divided into three pools of four teams and one group of three, are competing in the indoor competition in Hungary. During the round robin stages all the teams in the same group play three rubbers against each other: two singles and one doubles.
The four pool winners will play-off to determine the two qualifiers for the World Group II Play-offs, which take place in April, while the four bottom-placed teams will play-off to determine who is relegated to the Europe/Africa Zone Group II in 2009.
Ana, the current world No.2, is joined by world No.4 Jelena Jankovic, Ana Jovanovic and Teodora Mircic. Jovanovic, the world No.250, is the third highest ranked player in the side, while 20-year-old Mircic, who is ranked 269th, is expected to fulfil the fourth position in the Serbian team.
Many teams are without any top 50 players in their line-up, but Serbia will face stern competition in the form of top 20 ranked players such as Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder and Hungarian Agnes Szavay, who beat Ana in an exhibition match on the same court in December.
According to the rankings of Ana, who is the highest ranked player in the competition, and Jelena Jankovic, the Serbian team is heavily favoured to progress. Nevertheless, Serbia will still have its work cut out to qualify and matches against teams with top 50-ranked players could be decided in the doubles.
Ana made her Fed Cup debut in 2006, winning her singles matches in straight sets against Slovenia, South Africa and Denmark, and losing in three-sets to Israel. She didn’t compete in the competition last year. Her overall win-loss record is 5-2 (3-1 in singles).
Venue: Budapest, Hungary
Surface: Carpet (Gerflor Taraflex), indoors
Dates: January 30-February 2, 2008
Nations: Belarus, Bulgaria, Denmark, Georgia, Great Britain, Hungary, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland
Ana becomes world No.2
Date: January 27th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana has risen to a career-best ranking of world No.2. Only seven-time Grand Slam champion Justine Henin is above her in the singles list published tomorrow by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
Ana said: "It’s a great feeling. Just one more place to go!
"For sure it’s going to be extremely tough just to stay second, but my goal has always been to reach No.1, and obviously now I am closer than ever."
The 20-year-old’s run to the final of the Australian Open last week – her second major final in seven months – means that she overtakes Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
In the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships, the standings that determine the eight qualifiers for the season-ending event in Doha, Qatar, Ana is also second.
Current Sony Ericsson WTA Tour top 5:
1 Justine Henin (Bel) 6,680pts
2 Ana Ivanovic (Srb) 4,126pts
3 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 3,760pts
4 Jelena Jankovic (Srb) 3,700pts
5 Maria Sharapova (Rus) 3,256pts
Ana falls at final hurdle
Date: January 26th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana will have to wait for another chance to meet her destiny of winning a Grand Slam title as she was beaten by world No.5 Maria Sharapova 7-5, 6-3 in the Australian Open final.
Despite being the clear favourite with the Melbourne crowd, Ana lost her second Grand Slam final – she was runner-up to Justine Henin in the French Open six months ago. This time, on the hottest day of the Melbourne fortnight – temperatures exceeded 35ºC – Ana had her chances but was unable to produce anything like her best tennis.
She stood within two points of winning the opening set as she led 5-4 and held a 0-30 margin on Sharapova’s serve, but an ill-thought out drop shot then a wild forehand meant that the youngster missed a golden opportunity. The more experienced Sharapova, who showed a powerful serve throughout the match – she only lost 10 points out of 50 when she delivered – was merciless.
Ana comfortably held serve in the opening game, which dispelled any fears of her repeating the slow start in the semi-final duel against Daniela Hantuchova. She recovered from a 0-30 deficit in the third game to stay on serve.
The problems started in the fifth game, when Ana double-faulted to give Sharapova a double break point. The Russian converted to take a 3-2 lead.
In the eighth game, Ana adjusted her return and finally won her first two points on Sharapova’s serve after three games lost to love. The Russian double-faulted to give Ana a break point opportunity, but Ana netted a backhand. Strangely, Sharapova double-faulted twice to give Ana the desired break and level the set at 4-4.
Ana was buoyed and she held serve to send Sharapova a message: do not hesitate twice. A sizzling forehand return and a backhand winner could not have been more timely. Ana was only two points away from the first set, but unfortunately, she committed unforced errors, wasn’t patient enough and the chance was gone.
Sharapova, realising that Ana had missed a crucial opening, put pressure on her return of serve. She got the break, screamed in delight and closed out the set 7-5.
In the beginning of the second set, Ana’s forehand was lacking consistency. She saved a break point with a tremendous defensive lob and held serve to go 1-0.
Both players sailed comfortably while on serve. Ana was trying to move her opponent around and at the same time find her forehand, but it eluded her throughout. The key moment was the seventh game, in which Ana double-faulted to give Sharapova a break point. A netted forehand translated into a 4-3 deficit.
There was little time to set things straight. Ana was losing track and adding unforced errors. She served at 3-5 and saved two match points, but missed a forehand on the third to hand Sharapova the title.
Ana was emotional after the match. She warmly congratulated Sharapova, wished her uncle a happy birthday and then shed a few tears as she thanked the crowd, tournament staff and organisers for a truly memorable fortnight.
Despite the loss, the positive aspects of her run at Australia comfortably outweigh the final slip-up. Ana defeated her former nemesis Venus Williams, established herself in the regular list of Grand Slam contenders and on Monday, when you look up the Sony Ericsson WTA Rankings, you will find one sole player ahead of her.
Australian media coverage
Date: January 25th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana’s dream run to the Australian Open final has ensured she has received more media attention than any other player during the tournament, including men’s world No.1 and defending champion Roger Federer.
Before the tournament had even begun she had adorned the front page of three newspapers, while Melbourne’s biggest-selling paper, The Herald Sun, adopted her as their own. Ana has been writing a daily column that appears in The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald and USA Today, and she finished top of two more "sexiest tennis player" lists.
In fact, The Age named Ana as the best-looking tennis player of all time. The Brisbane Times, meanwhile staged a fans’ poll in which Ana again finished No.1.
Ana seals best ever win
Date: January 23rd, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana beat six-time Grand Slam champion Venus Williams 7-6, 6-4 to soar into the semi-finals of the Australian Open. Ana had not won a set against the former world No.1 in their previous four matches, but she produced some high quality tennis to reach the last four for the third time in four Grand Slams.
The 20-year-old started strongly, especially on the return of serve. She hit two forehand winners and broke Williams to take a 2-0 lead.
It would be the first of a series of six consecutive breaks of serve. Ana hammered six return winners and put pressure on Williams, but was a little bit shaky when she had to hold her own serve.
The world No.3 took a 4-2 lead, lost serve and held a break point when the American served at 3-4, 30-40. However, she could not capitalize and Venus levelled the scores at 4-4.
A tie-break was a fair ending for such an even set. A sizzling forehand down-the-line gave Ana a crucial 4-2 advantage, and Venus contributed when she missed two easy backhand volleys.
Not only had Ana won the first of three tiebreaks ever played against Williams; she had also captured her first set against the American.
However, the momentum shifted dramatically at the beginning of the second set. Williams went for broke and took Ana’s serve to lead 3-0. Ana was smart to wake up on time and broke back to stay on track.
A phenomenal passing-shot winner after a tremendous rally was the prelude for the good news to come. Even Oracene, Williams’ mother, smiled and applauded Ana’s effort.
Ana played a varied game, mixing powerful shots with drop-shots, to break Venus: she would serve for the match at 5-4.
During the final game she saved two break points: one with an ace and another service winner. Finally, Venus missed a forehand and Ana screamed in joy. She ended the match with 23 winners and 75 per cent effectiveness in net approaches.
“You helped me get through this one," she thanked the crowd. “I felt so comfortable here on this court".
She later added: "I thought I played some good tennis to win today. It was definitely a good match. I was looking forward for some revenge. I went out there and from the first moment on I tried to think only on each point.
"Obviously it was a little bit strange, the beginning of the match. I thought we both felt more comfortable returning. So it was a little bit disappointing because in the previous matches, I was serving really well.
"Still, I’m really happy with my performance and the way I came back in that second set and won it. It was amazing."
Ana will play Daniela Hantuchova in the semi-finals on Thursday. The Slovakian advanced to her first ever Grand Slam semi-final when she beat Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2, 6-2.
Today’s win means that Ana will move to No.2 in the world rankings if Jelena Jankovic loses to Maria Sharapova in the other semi-final.
Ana meets Aussie rules football captain
Date: January 20th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana yesterday met David Neitz, captain of Melbourne Football Club, the oldest Aussie rules football club in Australia.
Neitz’s team are currently celebrating their 150th anniversary. They play their home games at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, which is where Ana took part in a promotional appearance for adidas last week.
During the meeting, which took place in the player lounge at the Australian Open and was filmed by Channel 7 television, Ana and Nietz exchanged signed garments. Ana joked that she would fit the sports top far better than Neitz would her tennis dress!
Ana waltzes into round three
Date: January 17th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana overwhelmed Italian world No.40 Tathiana Garbin 6-0, 6-3 to move into the third round of the Australian Open. The 20-year-old will meet Katarina Srebotnik in the third round for the second straight tournament.
It was a brilliant performance by the fourth seed. She played near flawless tennis to move into a 6-0, 4-0 lead. A whitewash looked likely, but the Italian increased her intensity and drew some errors from Ana.
She self-effacingly raised her arms in mock celebration in the eleventh game, and loud applause greeted the moment when she first got her name on the scoreboard.
In fact, she threatened to make a match of it as she also took game 12, but Ana extended her lead to 5-2 before sealing victory after an hour and six minutes.
Ana said: "I was a little bit nervous going onto it: my first night session at a Grand Slam. It was also a little bit windy in the beginning. But I tried to focus, move my feet, get around the ball and just commit to my shots.
"So I was really happy the way I started and also the way I handled the match. I’m pleased with my performance."
Ana advances to round two
Date: January 15th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana moved into the second round of the Australian Open with a 7-5, 6-3 win over world No.107 Sorana-Mihaela Cirstea. The No.4 seed advanced in a match that lasted 98 minutes.
The 20-year-old was far from her best, but she was happy to seal a straight-sets victory. "It was a relief to win in two sets," said Ana. "She played very well and presented me with a lot of problems. I didn’t play my best tennis, but I did enough to win."
Ana began confidently, holding to 15 in her opening sevice game. She then held three break points at 0-40 in game two, only for the Romanian 17-year-old to save all three, plus a fourth, and hold serve.
In the third game Ana again squandered a 40-0 lead, and was broke. She could quite easily have led 3-0, but she found herself 2-1 behind.
This pattern emegerd for the rest of the set, with Ana missing chances to stamp her authority on the match. However, Cirstea’s nerves appeared shaking, and some poor serving at 5-4 allowed Ana back in. She broke, held,l then broke again to seal the set.
Ana stormed into a 5-0 lead in the second sert and, though Cirstea rallied back to 5-3, Ana prevailed.
Career-best ranking
Date: January 14th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana has risen to a career-best ranking. The 20-year-old, who was a semi-finalist in Sydney last week, moved up one place to No.3.
"I’m very happy to reach my highest ever ranking," said Ana. "It’s a fantastic feeling when all your hard work pays off. It also gives you extra motivation to keep working hard, so that you can go further. My goal has always been to be No.1, and this is another step towards achieving that."
With the season just two weeks old, Ana is positioned at No.6 in the Race to the Sony Ericsson Championships Singles Standings, the rankings that determine the eight qualifiers for the season-ending event that will be held in Doha, Qatar in November.
Date: January 12th, 2008
Source: http://www.anaivanovic.com/
Ana has signed potentially the biggest racket endorsement deal in the history of tennis. The 20-year-old has agreed a four-year contract with Yonex and will use the Japanese manufacturer’s products immediately.
“I’m delighted to join Yonex,” said Ana. “I spent a lot of time testing their rackets and I was thrilled to discover that they add something to my game.
“It was the first time I was trying new rackets, and it was a great feeling to be able to play so well with them. I’m very excited about playing with this new racket.”
Ana will become the global face of the brand and will play with the black RQiS-1 TOUR racket. She will also use Yonex accessories, such as racket thermos and grips. Both Ana’s rackets and bag will have her name written/embroidered on.
“We are very excited to have Ana in our team,” said Yonex International Division General Manager Wataru Hirokawa. “Yonex always demands young prospective players who can win Grand Slam titles and capture the No.1 ranking. We believe that Ana is the one who can do that in the very near future.
“Ana is not only a great athlete with strong passion on-court but she is keen to study finance at university; she always wants to improve herself. Passion on court and intelligence off-court are characteristics that match our company image. Of course, she is also a very charming young woman.”
Ana added: “I love visiting Asia, and I’m looking forward to spending more time in Japan thanks to this agreement. That’s another little thing that makes me very happy to sign this contract.”
The agreement is the latest record-breaking deal for Ana: her adidas contract is believed to be one of the most lucrative since Steffi Graf’s retirement, while last summer she signed the biggest ever endorsement deal in Serbia.
