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Ana practiced in an empty swimming pool in her native Serbia.

Ana has won 8 WTA singles titles including a Grand Slam (Roland Garros in 2008).

Ana started playing tennis at age 5, inspired by Monica Seles, who is from the same country.

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The Ana Ivanovic Site

Ana's injury update
06/30/09
Ana Ivanovic

Ana's injury is a tear in a muscle in her left thigh. It's pretty painful but not serious.

Ana will have to rest 1 to 2 weeks. Since she is not playing until August, this should not affect her schedule.

Ana's next tournament is Los Angeles.

Ana retires injured from her match against Venus Williams
06/29/09
Ana Ivanovic

Ana lost to Venus Williams of the United States 1-6 1-0 after she had to retire from the match due to a thigh injury.

In the first set, Ana had some chances in the opening game, where she held 3 break points, but the rest of the set was dominated by Williams, Ana fell behind 0-5 before winning her first game of the match, then dropped the next game to lose the set.

In the second set, Ana was serving in the first game and was down a breakpoint when she felt paint after a serve.

The trainer was called and Ana's thigh was heavily strapped, she even manage to win that opening game but after that she had to retire.

Ana was in tears, very disspointed, despite being down a set, she thought she had a good chance to play a good match and fight for the win, she felt her form was coming back and she was very sad it had to end this way.

How serious is Ana's injury is not known at the moment, she has to undergo some tests. There is some time off until her next tournament in Los Angeles, so hopefully she can recover in time to practice and be at the top of her game by then.

Injury frustrates tearful Ivanovic
06/29/09

It is not easy to extract the positives from a 53-minute thrashing and an injury-enforced retirement, but Ana Ivanovic was doing her very best. Poor Ivanovic had managed to win just two games against Venus Williams when ...

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Written by Alix Ramsay

It is not easy to extract the positives from a 53-minute thrashing and an injury-enforced retirement, but Ana Ivanovic was doing her very best. Poor Ivanovic had managed to win just two games against Venus Williams when at 6-1, 0-1, she had to limp back to the locker room. Her Wimbledon was over. And she was in floods of tears.

Unfortunately for her, a player’s life is not all about tennis and training and there are other duties to be fulfilled before she can go home and collect her thoughts. So, having sobbed uncontrollably on No.1 Court in full view of the television cameras, she had to compose herself and face the world’s press and explain herself to them.

Bravely, she just about held it together as she spoke to the international press but by the time they had gone and she was left alone to talk to the Serbian journalists, she could contain herself no more and, again, she dissolved into tears. As disappointments go, this one ranked as one of the worst she had had to endure.

Ivanovic had had her chances, briefly, in the opening game as she held three break points, but the moment did not last. When that game escaped her, the match was pretty much one-way traffic as the champion ran away with the first set.

Then, in the opening game of the second set, Ivanovic suddenly felt a sharp pain in her thigh. She called for the trainer. She tried to play on but once that first game was over, she knew the game was up.

“I didn't feel anything up until that point,” she said more than an hour after the match and still looking red-eyed. “Over the past few days I felt muscle tightness, but that was normal after playing so much on the grass.

“Just when I was serving 30‑40 down in that first game, and after my first serve when I landed I just felt a sharp pain on my inner thigh and I couldn't step on my leg ever since.”

It had all been so different on Saturday. Then she had rushed past Samantha Stosur to book her appointment in the fourth round and felt that, at last, her game and her confidence were on the up. Back with her old coach, Sven Groeneveld, and working with Darren Cahill, she was feeling more comfortable on court and, consequently, her thumping ground strokes were beginning to find their mark again.

Ever since she won the French Open and claimed the number one ranking last year, Ivanovic has been struggling. It took her a lifetime to get to the top but once she got there, she was suddenly felled by vertigo. It is a long way down from the top spot and the thought of that drop paralysed her.

But drop she did and now, as the world’s 12th best player, she feels a little freer to play her game and under a little less pressure to produce the big results. Finally, Ivanovic was happy. And then her leg started to hurt and her world caved in again.

“Even though it was 6‑1, I still thought it was pretty close,” she said, gamely. “She played really well. She wasn't missing much. But, yeah, I just felt like maybe I should have had a fair chance to fight back.

“Obviously it's very disappointing especially [since] I felt my form was getting better and better. So, yeah, it's really frustrating.”

By this point, she was almost in tears again. A decent performance against Williams would have done wonders for her confidence and would have shown her rivals that she was getting back to something like her best. Instead she must wait to see what the doctors say about her injury – she was still waiting to undergo some tests – before she can plan the rest of her summer.

“I thought I had some chances in the first game of the first set,” she said. “It’s just frustrating because, like I said, I felt good out there. I was playing better each match. I just thought it was great challenge for me today to play against someone like Venus. And it’s just disappointing I didn't get the right chance to finish the match.”

Ana beats Stosur, will face Venus Williams
06/27/09
Ana Ivanovic

Ana beat Samantha Stosur of Australia 7-5 6-2 today in Wimbledon.

Ana played her best match in a while. Her serve was working very well and her forehand was lethal.

She also was very effective on her return game, keeping the ball low and not allowing Stosur to easily come to the net. Ana's backhand was also solid and she had some nice touches on that side.

Ana was up a break in the first set, but when serving 4-3 up, she had one of the only moments when she lost her concentration and Stosur broke to even the set at 4. Stosur held in the next game and so did Ana. Then Ana broke Stosur's serve and had a clean serve game to close out the set.

In the second set, Ana was in complete control, she jumped to 4-0 lead with 2 breaks of serve. Stosur will hold in her next two service games but so did Ana.

Her next match will be a real challenge. She will face defending champion Venus Williams. Considering that Williams has won the title 5 times and she hasn't lost in this tournament since 2006, it will be a real tough assignment for Ana.

She will need to serve extremely well and be aggressive at all times, she will need to keep Williams away from the net and not give her weak serves that she can attack. Ana has the talent to beat Williams, but does she have the mental strenght? That question will be answered this Monday.

'I'm playing my best tennis ever,' says Ana
06/27/09

Having summarily dismissed her third round opponent, Samantha Stosur, 7-5, 6-2, the 13th seed Ana Ivanovic is oozing confidence, calm and poise and believes she is playing better now than when she was ranked world number one ...

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Written by Sally Easton

Having summarily dismissed her third round opponent, Samantha Stosur, 7-5, 6-2, the 13th seed Ana Ivanovic is oozing confidence, calm and poise and believes she is playing better now than when she was ranked world number one.

“I think my game is probably even better than it was," she said. "I feel also much more experienced and much more mature in some way. I went through a lot over the past year, being number one, having some disappointing losses and some tough times. That made me stronger and made me appreciate some things, not to take every match you win for granted, but just to appreciate the hard work that was put in.”

Talking of her victory over Stosur, she said: “I think my tactics and my game plan prevailed over my emotions. That's something I'm really happy about. I stuck with my plan and kept playing the best I can every point.”

Grass is also providing new-found pleasure for Ivanovic. She is enjoying playing on it, and says she’s been making changes in the way she approaches this very specific surface. “I worked a little bit on consistency in my game and just being more patient. That's what I try to apply in my matches this week. It's been working well. So I just want to stick with that and try to realise I have to hit few more shots in a rally, but I'm fine with it.”

Having taken a few tips from watching a certain Roger Federer, Ivanovic feels she’s beginning to get to grips with what is needed to do well. She said: “I think my game suits grass very well. This is the first year that I feel I'm starting to use grass for my advantage, and trying to work it”, adding: “Federer does that so good. So it was great to see, and it gave me encouragement.”

Ivanovic will now play defending champion and number three seed Venus Williams in the next round, having met her here previously in the semis two years ago. "I'm very excited” to play Venus, she said. “She plays really well here and the last two years here she's the champion.” She added: “I’ve felt like every match I was playing better and better, and that's what you want to feel going into the second week of a Grand Slam.”

Ivanovic will undoubtedly need to draw on that newly-found maturity if she wants to get past Venus, although she is optimistic. “She's a very dangerous opponent, but I think I have a great chance and I feel very comfortable going into that match.”

Improving Ivanovic downs Stosur
06/27/09

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the 13th seed, finished the first week at Wimbledon far more confidently than she started it. Her 7-5, 6-2 victory over Samantha Stosur of Australia in the mid-day heat on No.2 Court was ample proof that she is ready for the quarter-finals where Venus Williams will be her opponent ...

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Written by Barry Newcombe

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the 13th seed, finished the first week at Wimbledon far more confidently than she started it. Her 7-5, 6-2 victory over Samantha Stosur of Australia in the mid-day heat on No.2 Court was ample proof that she is ready for the quarter-finals where Venus Williams will be her opponent.

Stosur received the usual Australian support from group of yellow-shirted, noisy fans chanting her names but she did little to justify their backing Ivanovic dominated most of the important points in the sunshine.

For Stosur to try to out rally Ivanovic was a lost cause in the fast conditions and the shorter ball that might have caused the Serbian a few mobility problems was rarely utilised.

Ivanovic has been building her confidence through the first week after being match points down in her opening contest and this match was a further example of her improvement.

She took the Australian’s serve in the first game and served three aces in the second to lead 2-0, although she was pulled back to 4-4 in a loose game. Ivanovic’s next break of serve was more significant . Stosur fell behind 6-5 after being beaten by the best backhand drive of the day and then served two double faults.

After 37 minutes, the match was virtually over because Stosur’s resistance and confidence faltered as she fell behind 4-0 in the second set. Ivanovic missed a match point at 5-1 but seized her the chance to serve out for victory, hitting four winners in a row.

It was a sound and solid display by the Serbian. Nowshe has to go up a gear or two.

One to watch: Ana Ivanovic
06/26/09

Ana Ivanovic knew she was under pressure at Wimbledon when she had to save two match points in the first round against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the gloom of the evening on a back court ...

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Written by Barry Newcombe

Ana Ivanovic knew she was under pressure at Wimbledon when she had to save two match points in the first round against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic in the gloom of the evening on a back court.

She moved to a higher ranked court in the second round to defeat the Italian Sara Errani and now has to lift her challenge again to play the 18th seeded Australian, Samantha Stosur, for a place in the last 16 of The Championships.

Ivanovic, the girl from Serbia who has the 2008 French title as her major success, has been in the semi-finals once at Wimbledon when she lost to Venus Williams.

Now it is a question of whether she can expand her game at this Wimbledon where five days of sunny weather have left the courts quicker than usual. Ivanovic has to be ready for that test, to become a little more adventurous and to do a shade more work in the forecourt if she needs to dominate.

She says: “For me, I find that it’s really important to stay in the moment and realise that every day it’s a different opponent and different match and not every day do you feel good.

“Even if you feel great, just to go back to basics and work hard for each point.That’s what I was doing the last couple of matches and it makes me feel much more comfortable out there.

“I have lots of confidence from my practice session because I have been practising well for a long time but I just never managed to back it up in my matches.But I feel this week that I made some big steps. I just feel I need to allow myself some time and be patient and work hard.

“Samantha is obviously on a great roll. She played semis in the French Open and she’s tough opponent, especially on grass. She serves and volleys a lot. It’s going to be a tough game. But I enjoy competing and I enjoy challenges. But serve and volley, I don’t think it’s my style of game.”

Last Tournament
Wimbledon

Main Draw - Singles - Seed: 13
June 22 - July 4, 2009

1R	won	Lucie Hradecka	5-7 6-1 8-6
2R	won	Sara Errani	7-5 6-1
3R	won	Samantha Stosur	7-5 6-2
4R	lost	Venus Williams	1-6 1-0 Ret

Next Tournaments

08/03/09	Los Angeles
08/10/09	Cincinnati
08/17/09	Toronto
08/31/09	US Open
09/27/09	Tokyo
10/03/09	Beijing

Rankings

Singles: 12 Points: 3172

Yearly: 12 Points: 1601

Weeks at # 1: 12

Prize Money
2009: $571,312.00
Career: $6,474,859.00