Ana Ivanovic Biography

Ana Ivanovic

Born: November 6, 1987, Belgrade, Serbia

Height: 1.84 m

Weight: 69 kg

Nationality: Serbian

Parents: Dragana Ivanovic, Miroslav Ivanovic

Siblings: Milos Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic (born November 6, 1987) is a former world no. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of August 12, 2013, she is no. 14 in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings for singles and unranked in doubles (her career-high ranking in doubles is 50, c. 2006). She beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, has qualified for the annual WTA Tour Championships twice (in 2007 and 2008) and has won the year-end WTA Tournament of Champions twice, in 2010 and 2011. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles, including one Grand Slam singles title. As of 2013, Ivanovic has career earnings of over 10.3 million US$. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time, and was also included on the list of Top 100 Greatest Players Ever (male and female combined) by reporter Matthew Cronin.

Her first breakthrough came at the 2004 Zurich Open, where she qualified and narrowly was beaten by Venus Williams in the second round in two tiebreak sets. By the age of 18 Ivanovic had already defeated established players, such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva, and Amélie Mauresmo, the last of whom she defeated in the 2005 French Open on her way to reaching the quarterfinals of only her second Grand Slam tournament. She also has defeated many other past and present top players including, among others, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams, Dinara Safina, Martina Hingis, Jelena Jankovic, Agnieszka Radwańska, Caroline Wozniacki, Petra Kvitová, and Victoria Azarenka. When on form Ivanovic is known for her aggressive style of play and impressive forehand, described by Petrova as, "the best out there."

Ivanovic's struggles since winning the 2008 French Open have been well documented. Since that victory she has endured an ongoing period of reduced success, failing to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal in 18 of her subsequent 19 Grand Slam tournaments, and dropping to world no. 65 in July 2010. Ivanovic's only Grand Slam quarterfinal since then came at the 2012 US Open, where she lost to eventual champion, Serena Williams.

Early life

Ivanovic was born in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia. Ivanovic's mother Dragana, a lawyer, has been courtside during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attended as many events as he possibly could. Ivanovic has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loved to play basketball.

Ivanovic first picked up a racket at the age of five after watching Monica Seles, a fellow Yugoslav, on television. She started her career after memorizing the telephone number of a local tennis clinic from an advertisement. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, she was forced to train during the morning to avoid bombardments. Later, she admitted that she trained in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as no tennis facilities were available. When she was 15, Ivanovic spent four hours in a locker room crying after a defeat – the first that her new manager had witnessed. She thought that Dan Holzmann, the manager in question, would abandon her, thinking her not good enough to become a professional tennis player. He has remained her manager to this day.

Career

2004

Ivanovic reached the final of the Junior Wimbledon tournament in 2004, losing to Kateryna Bondarenko. In 2004, she went 26–0 on the ITF circuit, and won all five events that she entered, two of them as a qualifier. As a qualifier in Zürich, she overcame a 5–1 third set deficit along with two match points to defeat world no. 29 Tatiana Golovin 7–5,6–7,7–6. She then debuted in the qualifying draw of a Grand Slam at the US Open, where she was defeated by Lioudmila Skavronskaia after winning the first set 6–1 and having two match points on 5–4 in 3rd set. She eventually fell to a close loss, 6–1, 4–6, 5–7. Her first professional breakthrough occurred in the next match, when she took Venus Williams to two tiebreaks, before losing in straight sets in the second round of the Zürich Open. She had held several set points in both sets. She followed up her run in Zürich with a quarterfinal showing at Luxembourg the next week.

2005

Ivanovic won her first career singles title, as a qualifier, in Canberra, Australia, after defeating Melinda Czink in the final. Her ranking continued to rise after wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 3–6, 7–5 in Miami, Nadia Petrova 6–4, 7–5 also in Miami 6–2, 6–4, and Vera Zvonareva in Warsaw, all of whom were top-10 players. Ivanovic lost to Amélie Mauresmo at the Australian Open in third round, and at Doha in third round after Ivanovic had 6–2, 2–0 lead and in 3rd set had three break points for 5–2 lead, and Miami Masters in quarterfinals, before defeating her in the third round of the French Open 6–4, 3–6, 6–3. At that stage in her career it was arguably her biggest win. Ivanovic then advanced to the quarter-finals by defeating future French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round before being defeated by Petrova in what was just Ivanovic's second Grand Slam tournament. Later in the year, Ivanovic reached the semifinals of the Zurich Open and Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Patty Schnyder in both tournaments. Ivanovic finished the year ranked no. 16.

2006

Ivanovic started the season at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia with fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic, where the pair narrowly missed the final. To start off her WTA year, she played at the Medibank International in Sydney where she once again defeated Amélie Mauresmo, this time in straight sets 6–2,7–5, before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals 7–6,6–3 after having 5–2 lead in first set. A week later, she lost to Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Australian Open 6–3,7–5.

Ivanovic made it to the third round of the French Open, before losing to Anastasia Myskina. She progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, but lost to eventual champion and world no. 1 Amélie Mauresmo in straight sets 7–5,6–3 after beating no. 14 seed Dinara Safina 3–6,7–6,6–1.

Ivanovic made her breakthrough in August 2006 by defeating a formerly ranked no. 1 Martina Hingis 6–2,6–3 in the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before beating Jelena Jankovic 6–1,6–2, no. 14 seed Katarina Srebotnik 6–4,6–4 and top 10 player Dinara Safina 6–1,6–4. This ultimately led to her winning the United States Open Series, ahead of Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. At the US Open, she lost to Serena Williams.

Ivanovic also played nine tournaments in doubles in 2006, teaming up with Maria Kirilenko and Sania Mirza. Ivanovic and Kirilenko made two semifinals and a final; they ended the year at number 17 in the annual race to the Championships. Ivanovic finished the year ranked world no. 14 in singles and world no. 51 in doubles.

2007

Ivanovic started the season at the 2007 Medibank International where she beat no. 5 Nadia Petrova but lost to Nicole Vaidišová. Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Ivanovic defeated Agnieszka Radwańska 6–2,3–6,6–2 in the second round, but later lost in the third round to Vera Zvonareva after she missed some opportunities. Immediately after this tournament, she announced that she had split with her coach David Taylor. Ivanovic then played in the 2007 Toray Pan Pacific Open. In the quarterfinals she beat no. 10 Jelena Jankovic 3–6,6–4,6–2, and in the semifinals she beat No. 1 Maria Sharapova 6–1, 0–1 when Sharapova was forced to retire, but she lost in the Final to Martina Hingis 4–6, 2–6.

At the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, she was defeated in the fourth round by Sybille Bammer 6–7,6–0,3–6 after easy wins over Vania King and Alicia Molik. Yaroslava Shvedova then defeated Ivanovic in the second round of the Tier I Sony Ericsson Open in Miami Masters. Later she played a tournament at Amelia Island where she lost in the semifinals to no. 19 and eventual champion Tatiana Golovin 4–6,6–3,4–6 after Ivanovic had break points in all games of serve for Tatiana. It was the first win for her in seven meetings. After she lost in the semifinals she won no. 9 Jelena Jankovic 7–5,6–3 in quarterfinals.

Ivanovic then returned to Europe to play two clay-court tournaments in preparation for the French Open. In Berlin at the Qatar Telecom German Open, she won her first Tier I clay court title, defeating no. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final 3–6,6–4,7–6. It was very long and interesting match, in first set Kuznetsova was leading 5–1 and she officially won the set 6–3.In second set Ivanovic had 2–0 lead, after Kuznetsova equalized on 2–2, Ivanovic again broke for 4–2, but Kuznetsova equalized on 4–4 and Ivanovic officially won the second set 6–4.Third set was the longest one, Kuznetsova first broke Ivanovic's serve for 2–1 lead, but Ivanovic was strong and pulled for 5–3, even then the match wasn't finished because Ivanovic needed tie-break to finally finish the match.However, Ivanovic injured her ankle during the final, which forced her to withdraw from the Tier I Internazionali BNL d'Italia in Rome. The win in Berlin propelled her into the top ten of the WTA Rankings for the first time, at world no. 8.

Ivanovic had a six-match winning streak heading into the French Open and increased this streak to twelve by reaching the final. She won her first three matches with the loss of only nine games. In her second career quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Ivanovic defeated world no. 3 Kuznetsova 6–0,3–6,6–1, and she then beat world no. 2 Sharapova 6–2,6–1 in less than one hour in the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic attempted to win her first Grand Slam singles title and complete a sweep of the top three players in the world. However, world no. 1 and two-time defending champion Justine Henin won the match 6–1 6–2, after Ivanovic led 1–0 and 40–0 with a break in the opening set.

At Wimbledon, Ivanovic defeated world no. 9 Nadia Petrova 6–1,2–6,6–4 in the fourth round, and saved three match points to defeat Nicole Vaidišová 4–6,6–2,7–5 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, three-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams defeated Ivanovic 6–2,6–4 after Ivanovic had a break of lead in the second set.

A persistent knee injury sustained at Wimbledon caused Ivanovic to withdraw from Serbian Fed Cup competition against Slovakia and two lead-up events to the US Open. She returned to the tour at the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California, saving two match points in the semifinals with huge winner before defeating no. 3 Jankovic 4–6,6–3,7–5 in trilling match. In the final, Ivanovic defeated top 10 player Petrova to win the fourth singles title of her career, which raised her ranking to a career-high of world no. 4.

In Ivanovic's first three matches at the US Open, she lost only 10 games. Venus Williams then eliminated her for the second consecutive time at a Grand Slam tournament.

Ivanovic returned to Europe for three tournaments. At the Tier II Luxembourg Championships, Ivanovic qualified for the Sony Ericsson Championships by virtue of reaching the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic rallied from 6–3, 3–0 down to defeat Daniela Hantuchová 3–6,6–4,6–3 in two hours and 25 minutes. This was her fifth career title. In the quarterfinals and semifinals she beat Tatiana Golovin 6–1,6–2 and Vera Zvonareva 6–4,6–2.

To end the year, Ivanovic played in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid, Spain. Seeded fourth and assigned to the Red Group during the round-robin phase, she defeated world no. 2 Kuznetsova 6–1,4–6,7–5, after she had 4–0 and three break points for 5–0 in the third set she eventually won the set 7–5 and Hantuchová in straight sets 6–2,7–6.She qualified to semifinals and then Sharapova defeated Ivanovic in the final match of the round-robin stage. Because she finished second in her group, Ivanovic played world no. 1 Henin in the semifinals, in which the Belgian won 6–4,6–4.

Ivanovic finished the year with a career-high ranking of world no. 4.

2008: French Open champion and world no. 1

Ivanovic started the year at the 2008 Medibank International, where she made the quarterfinals, eventually losing to world no. 1 Justine Henin, 2–6, 6–2, 4–6, despite having had break points at 4–4 in the third set. As the fourth seed at the Australian Open, Ivanovic made it all the way to the finals, beating top-10 players Venus Williams for the first time in her career, 7–6, 6–4, and coming back from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit against Daniela Hantuchová, eventually winning 0–6, 6–3, 6–4. She was given the nickname "Aussie Ana" during the on-court interview with Todd Woodbridge following the victory over Williams. Ivanovic fell against world no. 5 Maria Sharapova in a tight match, 5–7, 3–6, in the final. Her ranking rose to world no. 3 as a result of her performance at the tournament, the highest of her career at the time.

In Serbia's Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I D round-robin tie against Poland in Budapest, Ivanovic defeated Urszula Radwańska in straight sets, 6–3, 6–1. In Serbia's second round-robin tie against Romania, Ivanovic defeated Monica Niculescu, 5–7, 6–4, 7–5 and then teamed with Jelena Jankovic to win the deciding doubles rubber against the Romanian team, 2–6, 7–6, 7–6, after Jankovic lost her singles match. In the promotion playoff, Ivanovic beat Renée Reinhard, 6–2, 3–6, 6–3 of the Netherlands, as Serbia advanced to the World Group II playoffs in April.

In March, Ivanovic defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, 6–4, 6–3, before wins over top-15 players Francesca Schiavone, 2–6, 7–5, 6–2, Vera Zvonareva, 6–1, 6–4, and world no. 4 Jelena Jankovic, 7–6, 6–3, in the semifinals. In the first set against Jelena she had a 5–3 lead and even some set points at 6–5, but eventually won the set 7–6. She lost to Lindsay Davenport in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami the following week in straight sets, 4–6, 6–7

Ivanovic started her clay-court season as defending champion at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin. She lost to Elena Dementieva, 2–6, 5–7, for the fourth time in four meetings in the semifinals, after beating ninth seed Ágnes Szávay, 3–6, 6–4, 6–3, in the quarterfinals. Ivanovic was seeded second at the 2008 French Open, where she defeated Petra Cetkovská, 6–0, 6–0 in fourth round, world no. 10 Patty Schnyder, 6–3, 6–2 in the quarterfinals, and world no. 3 Jelena Jankovic in a thrilling encounter in the semifinals, 6–4, 3–6, 6–4. She went on to defeat Dinara Safina in straight sets, 6–4, 6–3 in the final, winning her first (and to date, only) Grand Slam singles title.

At Wimbledon, Ivanovic made quick work of her first round match 6–1, 6–2, only to encounter an inspired Nathalie Dechy in the second round. Ivanovic looked to be headed for a straight-set win after having a 5–3 lead in the first set, before Dechy launched a comeback that saw her produce two match points, Ivanovic swept the first away, then saved the second match point with a netcord ball, eventually prevailing, 6–7, 7–6, 10–8. She fell against unseeded wildcard Zheng Jie of China in straight sets.

Ivanovic started the summer hard-court season with a third-round loss at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to Tamira Paszek, 2–6, 6–1, 2–6. Ivanovic, bothered by a sore thumb sustained during practice two weeks before Montreal, withdrew from the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Her withdrawal saw her lose the world no. 1 ranking to Jankovic. The thumb injury also caused her to withdraw from the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which Ivanovic described as "one of the worst moments of her career." Ivanovic, having reclaimed her world no. 1 ranking on August 18, was the top-seeded player at the US Open, but lost to Julie Coin, 3–6, 6–4, 3–6 in a very exciting and high-quality second-round match. The loss was the earliest defeat of the top-seeded player at the US Open since the 1973 tournament.

In her first match after the US Open, at the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic was defeated by Nadia Petrova in three sets, bringing her win-loss record since the French Open to 4–4. Ivanovic later told the press that she was "just happy to be back injury-free" and that she needed to "play more matches get back into rhythm."Ivanovic then played in Beijing, and after two great results, she lost to Zheng Jie, 6–7(6), 6–2, 4–6, after having a break in the first and third sets and winning 16 more points than her opponent.

Then she came back to Europe to play three more tournaments, first in Moscow where she lost to Dominika Cibulková, 6–2, 2–6, 7–6, after having two match points. In the Zurich Open, she lost in the semifinals to Venus Williams, 6–4, 3–6, 4–6, after leading 3–1 in the third set. Ivanovic played the Generali Ladies Linz in Linz tournament and was the top seed. She won the tournament by crushing top-10 players Vera Zvonareva, 6–2, 6–1, and Agnieszka Radwańska, 6–2, 3–6, 7–5 in the final and semifinal.

At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, Ivanovic was seeded fourth. In her first round-robin match, she was defeated by world no. 1 Jankovic after she won the best point of the year. Her next match was against Zvonareva, to whom she also lost in three exciting sets. She withdrew from her final match against Kuznetsova because of a virus.

2009

At the Australian Open, Ivanovic was seeded fifth and won her first two matches in straight sets before losing to 29th seed Russian Alisa Kleybanova in the third round.

Ivanovic took part in Serbia's Fed Cup win in the World Group II tie against Japan. She defeated Ai Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita to help Serbia to a 4–1 win. At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier 5 event, she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Around this time, Ivanovic began working with her new coach Craig Kardon, after parting with former coach Sven Groeneveld.

At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California, where she was defending champion, Ivanovic advanced to the finals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva. In Miami, Ivanovic lost in the third round to Ágnes Szávay. In April, Ivanovic took part in Serbia's Fed Cup World Group Play-offs against Spain. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues to help Serbia gain promotion to the World Group with a 4–0 win.

At the 2009 French Open, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets, before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round. This early loss caused Ivanovic to fall out of the top ten for the first time since May, 2007. After the loss, Ivanovic announced that she would cease working with Craig Kardon, and would be participating in the adidas Player Development Program, where she would be coached by Sven Groeneveld, Darren Cahill, Mats Merkel and Gil Reyes.

At Wimbledon, Ivanovic was seeded 13th. She faced two match points against Lucie Hradecká, before prevailing. She then took down Sara Errani and 18th seed Samantha Stosur in the second and third rounds in straight sets, before retiring against third seed and eventual finalist Venus Williams.

At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ivanovic defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round and went on to face Lucie Šafářová in the second round where she was eliminated.

At the US Open, Ivanovic lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career by succumbing to Kateryna Bondarenko. After the match, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash criticized Ivanovic's new service motion, stating that watching it was a "painful experience" and that it "her threat." He also felt that Ivanovic was "over-analysing" her game and that her main problem was "her lack of confidence."

At the Premier 5 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic suffered her third successive defeat by losing to Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Citing an upper respiratory tract infection, Ivanovic pulled out of the China Open and announced on her website that she was taking the rest of the year off.

She finished the year with a 24–14 match record, her worst since she turned pro, and did not win any titles. Ivanovic only reached three quarterfinals, one semifinal, and one final, and only won back-to-back matches six times. Ivanovic ended the year ranked 21, the first time she had been ranked outside the top 20 since July 2005.

2010

Ivanovic started the year at the 2010 Brisbane International. Seeded third, Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since Indian Wells in 2009. She eventually bowed out to wildcard Justine Henin in Henin's first tournament since her return from retirement. Ivanovic was seeded 20th at the 2010 Australian Open, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round in three sets.

Ivanovic then participated in the opening round of the 2010 Fed Cup in Serbia's tie against Russia. She went 0–2 in her singles matches, losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova and Alisa Kleybanova, both in straight sets. She partnered with Jelena Jankovic in the deciding doubles match, but they fell to Kuznetsova and Kleybanova. Ivanovic then withdrew from Dubai with shoulder tendinitis.

Ivanovic announced that she would be working with Steffi Graf's former coach Heinz Günthardt on a trial basis during the spring North American hard-court season, suspending her relationship with the Adidas Player Development Program indefinitely. In her first match as Gunthardt's pupil, a one-set semifinal against reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the 2010 Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden, Ivanovic lost in a tiebreak, despite having held match point. After the match, Ivanovic stated that she had noted improvements in her game.

Despite her improvements reflected in the BNP Paribas Showdown, Ivanovic lost her opening match to world no. 63 Anastasija Sevastova at the 2010 BNP Paribas Open. Never before had she suffered four consecutive losses. By also losing a huge number of ranking points, Ivanovic dropped out of the top 50 for the first time since March 2005. Seeded 25th at the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami, Ivanovic won her first match since the Australian Open, but then lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in the third round.

In her first clay-court event of the year at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Ivanovic suffered a second consecutive loss to Radwańska. In her first doubles match since June 2009, partnering Andrea Petkovic, she lost to Borwell and Kops-Jones.

Unseeded at the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, Ivanovic had her best week of tennis in nearly two years. She stunned top-10 players Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, and top-20 player Nadia Petrova, all in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion María José Martínez Sánchez in the semifinals. She was granted a wildcard into the Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid, and received a bye in the first round due to her semifinal appearance at the Italian Open. She was the first unseeded wildcard to receive a first-round bye in the history of the WTA Tour. She lost in the second round to Jelena Jankovic, despite leading by a set and a break. Ivanovic entered the 2010 French Open unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2005. She fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.

In the UNICEF Open, Ivanovic fell to seventh-seeded German Andrea Petkovic in the second round. Ivanovic was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by 13th seed Shahar Pe'er, and as a consequence saw her ranking drop to world no. 64.

In the opening round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford University, Ivanovic avenged her 2009 Australian Open and 2010 French Open defeats to Alisa Kleybanova, before losing in the next round to Marion Bartoli in straight sets. At the Mercury Insurance Open, Ivanovic once again suffered a first-round loss to Shahar Pe'er. At the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open, she rallied from a set and a break down to beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets. Ivanovic retired against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals due to a foot injury. Her ranking dramatically improved to world no. 39. The injury caused her to withdraw from the Pilot Pen tournament held in New Haven.

Unseeded at the 2010 US Open, Ivanovic breezed into the fourth round with straight-set victories, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters.

Ivanovic went into the Hansol Korea Open as the seventh seed, but lost her opener to Vera Dushevina. Ivanovic then defeated Kleybanova, the Korea Open champion, in the first round of the 2010 Toray Pan Pacific Open, before again losing to Bartoli in straight sets. Ivanovic avenged her losses to Bartoli at the 2010 China Open, beating the Frenchwoman in straight sets in the first round. On her way to the quarterfinals, Ivanovic scored another top-10 victory by defeating Elena Dementieva for the second time in 2010. Ivanovic fell to world no. 1 Caroline Wozniacki. By virtue of her quarterfinal finish, Ivanovic re-entered the top 30.

Entering the 2010 Generali Ladies Linz as a wildcard, Ivanovic defeated Patty Schnyder in the finals, 6–1, 6–2, in just 47 minutes of play. Ivanovic headed to the 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open as the fourth seed, where she breezed right through to the quarterfinals, before falling to eighth seed Julia Görges. Meanwhile, after making the quarterfinals of the doubles tournament with Yanina Wickmayer, they fell to fourth seeds Lucie Hradecká and Renata Voráčová.

Ivanovic revealed that she had ended her coaching relationship with Swiss star Heinz Günthardt, because Gunthardt mixed his interest in tennis with being a Swiss television commentator.

By virtue of her title in Linz, Ivanovic qualified for the last tournament of the season, the 2010 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions. She made it to the finals, where she defeated Russian Alisa Kleybanova for her tenth career title and her second of the year. With her title in Bali, Ivanovic achieved a year-end ranking of no. 17, her fifth finish in the top 20.

2011

Ivanovic started the year with the 2011 Hopman Cup in Perth, Australia. She competed along with Novak Djokovic under the Serbian flag. Ivanovic and Djokovic swept their first two ties against Kazakhstan and Australia, 3–0, but fell against Belgium, 1–2. They did qualify for the final, but due to an injury sustained during Ivanovic's match against Justine Henin, Serbia was forced to withdraw. Along with the Hopman Cup, Ivanovic also withdrew from Sydney.

Ivanovic was seeded 19th at the 2011 Australian Open, where she lost to Ekaterina Makarova, 6–3, 4–6, 8–10, in the first round in 2 hours and 47 minutes. Ivanovic then played in the PTT Pattaya Open, where she fell in the quarterfinals to fifth seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets, 5–7, 3–6. She headed to Dubai as the 14th seed, where she lost against Patty Schnyder in three sets. She stated the loss was in part because of the abdominal injury sustained in the beginning of the season, and she subsequently withdrew from Doha.

Ivanovic then headed to Indian Wells, where she was seeded 19th. After losing her doubles match with Petkovic in a tight three-setter, she lost to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals.

Ivanovic then played in the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open, where she was seeded 19th. She lost against defending champion Kim Clijsters in her fourth-round match, despite having a 5–1, 40–0 lead in the third set and having five match points. She partnered with Petkovic in doubles where, after scoring a first round win, they stunned sixth-seeded Benešová and Záhlavová-Strýcová. They withdrew from the doubles competition after Ivanovic lost to Clijsters.

Ivanovic withdrew from the 2011 Andalucia Tennis Experience tournament to better prepare herself for the upcoming clay-court season. However, she joined Serbia in the 2011 Fed Cup event. Ivanovic scored a point for Serbia by beating Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets, 6–2, 6–4, but had to retire in her next match against Dominika Cibulková, as she renewed an injury from the beginning of the season. Despite that, Serbia beat Slovakia in the deciding doubles rubber, 3–2.

Ivanovic's next scheduled tournament was the 2011 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open, where she was seeded 15th. After her early exit in the first round, losing to Bethanie Mattek-Sands, Ivanovic headed to 2011 Internazionali BNL d'Italia, where she was 13th seed. Ivanovic lost in the second round to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. Ivanovic withdrew from Strasbourg due to a minor wrist injury. Ivanovic then lost to Johanna Larsson, 6–7, 6–0, 2–6, in her first round match at the 2011 French Open. Ivanovic had a slight resurgence in Birmingham, reaching the semifinals, but lost to Daniela Hantuchová in three sets. Ivanovic lost to Venus Williams in the second round at Eastbourne.

Seeded 18th at the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, Ivanovic defeated Melanie Oudin and Eleni Daniilidou before falling to Petra Cetkovská who had beaten 13th seed Agnieszka Radwańska in round two. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic hired Nigel Sears, the head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, as her coach. In Stanford, Ivanovic fell against Japan's Ayumi Morita in her opening match, 3–6, 5–7. Seeded 5th in Carlsbad, she received a first-round bye. In round two, she avenged the previous week's loss by beating Ayumi Morita, 6–1, 7–6, despite trailing 0–5 in the second set. Ivanovic the cruised past both Alberta Brianti and 4th seed Shuai Peng to reach the semifinals. She eventually fell against top seed Vera Zvonareva, 7–5, 4–6, 4–6. After losing to Roberta Vinci in her third round match at the Roger's Cup, Ivanovic, who teamed with Andrea Petkovic, had to withdraw in the middle of her doubles match while playing against fourth-seeded Azarenka and Kirilenko. Seeded 16th at the 2011 US Open Championships, Ivanovic defeated Ksenia Pervak of Russia in the first round. After receiving a walkover from Petra Cetkovská, she beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets before falling to eventual finalist Serena Williams, losing in straight sets 3–6, 4–6, in just 74 minutes. She also played alongside fellow countryman Nenad Zimonjic in the mixed doubles competition for the first time, but fell against Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Yung-jan Chan, 3–6, 4–6.

During the Toray Pan Pacific Open Ivanovic recorded victories in straight sets over Anastasia Rodionova and wildcard Laura Robson, before losing to Maria Kirilenko in the third round.

At the China Open Ivanovic defeated Kimiko Date-Krumm and Svetlana Kuznetsova in straights to reach the third round, where she beat third seed and then world no. 4 Vera Zvonareva, 6–2, 6–1. She then faced Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarter-finals where she retired after being down 3–6, 2–3 due to a back injury. Ivanovic received a wild card to play in the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, which she won last year. In her first round she played Italy's Roberta Vinci and defeated her 6–3 6–3. In the semi-finals she beat Russian Nadia Petrova 6–1, 7–5. In the final, she captured her 11 WTA title by beating Anabel Medina Garrigues in straights sets, 6–3, 6–0. This is the first time she had ever defended her title in a tournament.

2012

Ivanovic began her season at the 2012 Brisbane International where she was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Kim Clijsters in three sets, 1–6, 6–1, 3–6 despite leading 3–0 in the final set. Ivanovic's next event was the Apia International Sydney but she lost in the first round to Lucie Šafářová in straight sets, 6–7, 2–6.

Ivanovic then headed over to the 2012 Australian Open where she was seeded 21st. She did not drop a set en route to the fourth round, defeating Lourdes Domínguez Lino, Michaëlla Krajicek and Vania King along the way. Ivanovic lost in straight sets to World No. 2 and Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová, 6–2, 7–6 in the fourth round. She cracked the Top 20 after her Round of 16 run.

Ivanovic's next tournament was the 2012 Qatar Total Open. She fell in the second round to Petra Cetkovská in straight sets. Ivanovic then went on unseeded in Dubai, where she upset Francesca Schiavone, and beat Maria Kirilenko, before falling to 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki.

Ivanovic went over to the 2012 BNP Paribas Open as the 15th seed. She was able to make a run all the way to the semifinals, posting victories over Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli, who were both in the Top 7. She fell against Maria Sharapova, retiring after being down 4–6, 1–0 in the semifinals. This caused her to enter the Top 10 for the race to the 2012 WTA Tour Championships. She then headed over to Miami, for the 2012 Sony Ericsson Open as the 15th seed, where she made it to the Round of 16, beating Daniela Hantuchová and Vania King in straight sets en route, before eventually falling to seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams, despite holding a one set lead. She still cracked the Top 15 for the first time since 2009 and became Serbian No.1 for the first time since 2008, this time placing 14th after Miami.

Ivanovic then headed to Moscow for the 2012 Fed Cup semifinals, where after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tight sets, recovered, and beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 3–6, 6–0, 6–3 to put Serbia ahead, 2–1. Fellow countrywoman Jelena Jankovic then closed out the tie for Serbia (3–2), sending the country into the Fed Cup finals for the first time in history.

Ivanovic resumed tour action in Stuttgart, where she fell to Mona Barthel in two tight sets. She then headed over to the newly blue-clayed Madrid where she breezed past Mathilde Johansson, and Nadia Petrova, before falling in straights to then world no. 1 Victoria Azarenka, despite leading 4–1 in the first set. Ivanovic then headed over to Rome for her last event before Roland Garros. Seeded 13th, she eased past Kuznetsova, and Soler Espinosa, before falling against then world no.2 Maria Sharapova in straight sets, despite serving for the first set, at 5–3.

Seeded 13th at Roland Garros, Ivanovic defeated Lara Arruabarrena Vecino and Shahar Pe'er in straight sets. before losing to 21st seed, and eventual finalist Sara Errani, 6–1, 5–7, 3–6 in the third round. 

Ivanovic withdrew from the 2012 Aegon International in Eastbourne before the tournament began due to a hip injury. Seeded 14th at the 2012 Wimbledon Championships, she worked for victories over María José Martínez Sánchez 6–3, 3–6, 6–3 and Kateryna Bondarenko, 6–3, 7–6(3). Ivanovic then beat 22nd seed Julia Görges, 3–6, 6–3, 6–4 to reach the round of 16, her best result there since reaching the round of 16 in 2009. She then suffered her worst defeat in her entire playing career, losing to 2nd seed Victoria Azarenka 6–1, 6–0 in the fourth round; she won three games in each of her previous worst performances. Despite the loss, her run caused her ranking to rise at No.12 in the WTA rankings the following week.

She made her Olympics debut at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, participating in both the Women's Singles and Mixed Doubles with Nenad Zimonjic. Seeded 11th in singles, she defeated then world no. 26 Christina McHale and local Elena Baltacha in straight sets, before falling to 4-time Grand Slam Champion Kim Clijsters in the Round of 16. She teamed up with Zimonjic for the mixed doubles competition, where they fell against India's Mirza and Paes in the opening round.

At the 2012 Roger's Cup, Ivanovic got double bageled by Roberta Vinci 6–0, 6–0 in the 2nd round, becoming another World No. 1 to have been double bageled (after Maria Sharapova and Dinara Safina), the second after having achieved her No. 1 ranking (Dinara Safina) and the first to have been double bageled by a non former World No. 1 and non Grand Slam Winner (Sharapova lost to Lindsay Davenport and Safina lost to Kim Clijsters).

At the US Open, Ivanovic defeated Ukrainian Qualifier Elina Svitolina in the first round, 6–1, 6–2. In the second round, she defeated Sofia Arvidsson, 6–2, 6–2. For the second year straight, she played young American Sloane Stephens in the third round, but overcame her 6–7, 6–4, 6–2. She then beat Tsvetana Pironkova in the fourth round 6–0 6–4 to reach her first grand slam quarter-final since 2008 and her first ever US Open quarter-final. In the quartfinals Ivanovic was soundly defeated by Serena Williams 6–1 6–3.

Ivanovic then participated at the 2012 Toray Pan Pacific Open, but had a second round lost to Urszula Radwańska in three sets. She then competed at the China Open as the 11th seed. She defeated Christina McHale and Varvara Lepchenko, but eventually lost in the third round to Romina Oprandi in straight sets; 6–4, 6–3. Ivanovic's next tournament was the Generali Ladies Linz as the second seed, having won here previously in 2008 and 2010. She lost to Qualifier Kirsten Flipkens in the Quarter-Finals. Ivanovic headed over to Moscow to compete at the 2012 Kremlin Cup as the fourth seed. She made it all the way to the semi-final,having had a bye in the first round then defeating Valeria Solovyeva and Vesna Dolonc in straight sets. She lost Samantha Stosur in three sets, despite winning the first. Ivanovic did not qualify to defend her title in bali, and did not receive a wild card entry due to her participation at the 2012 Fed Cup. Serbia took on the defending champions, Czech Republic. Ivanovic lost her first rubber against Lucie Šafářová, but won her second against Petra Kvitová. Which meant Jelena Jankovic had to win her rubber to take it to a tie, and go to a decider. Jankovic eventually lost her rubber against Lucie safarova. She finished 2012 as the world no. 13, her best finish since 2008.

2013

Ana Ivanovic kicked off the year by playing at the Hopman Cup with Novak Djokovic. In her first round robin match, she beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone. She beat Ashleigh Barty and in her final round robin match defeated Tatjana Malek to put Serbia into the final of the 2013 Hopman Cup, having defeated Italy, Australia and Germany. Whilst playing Spain, Novak Djokovic gave Serbia a 1–0 tie lead but Anabel Medina Garrigues tied up the final at 1–1 after defeating Ivanovic 4–6, 7–6, 3–6 in a closely fought singles match. Serbia then lost the deciding tie in mixed doubles.

At the Australian Open, she successfully reached the 4th round of the tournament, progressing past Melinda Czink, Yung-Jan Chen and Jelena Jankovic. She eventually lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in two sets. Ivanovic played in Pattaya City as the no.1 seed but lost in the first round to Ayumi Morita. Ivanovic was then scheduled to play at the 2013 Fed Cup but withdrew due to shoulder injuries. Ivanovic competed at the 2013 Qatar Total Open as the 12th seed. She made a run to the third round, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska, despite breaking Radwańska in the 12th game and having the chance to serve out for the second set. She then reached the second round of the 2013 Dubai Tennis Championships, before losing narrowly to Petra Kvitová.

Ivanovic received a first round bye at the 2013 BNP Paribas Open. In her second round match, she defeated American teenager Taylor Townsend losing just three games. In the third round, she lost in three sets to big-serving Mona Barthel from Germany. At the subsequent WTA Premier Mandatory event 2013 Sony Open Tennis, Ivanovic exacted revenge on Urszula Radwańska by dishing out a 6–1, 6–2 drubbing and cruised past two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova 6–3, 6–3. However, Ivanovic lost to 8th seeded Sara Errani in 3 sets in the 4th round. Ivanovic then took part in the 2013 Monterrey Open and was defeated in the second round by defending champion Tímea Babos from Hungary. This marked the first time in 2013 that Ivanovic had lost to an opponent ranked outside the top 100.

Despite a slow start to the 2013 season, Ivanovic made good progress in the clay season. Notably, she defeated upcoming players Mona Barthel (who she lost to at Indian Wells) and Laura Robson, as well as higher-seeded players Nadia Petrova at Stuttgart and Angelique Kerber twice at the Fed Cup Week 2 Playoffs and at the Mutua Madrid Open. As a result of Ivanovic's more consistent tennis in the clay season, she reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart despite not being seeded, and managed to reach the semifinals of the WTA Premier Mandatory Mutua Madrid Open for the first time in her career. In both Stuttgart and Madrid, her runs were routed by 2012 French Open champion Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, after good runs at two clay court tournaments, she dropped her opener in Rome against Urszula Radwańska. At the French Open she stormed past 3 opponents to the fourth round, only to fall in straight sets to Agnieszka Radwańska for the third time in the year.

At the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, she won the first round against Virginie Razzano from France with the scores 7–6,6–0. After proceeding to the second round of the 2013 Wimbledon Championships, Ivanovic was defeated from Eugenie Bouchard from Canada by 6–3, 6–3.

Equipment

Ivanovic endorsed Nike apparel and shoes at the beginning of her professional career,but at the beginning of 2006 switched to rival Adidas. Ivanovic then signed a lifetime contract with the company. Ivanovic will become an Ambassador for Adidas once she retires from competitive tennis. She is believed to be the youngest athlete, male or female, to sign a contract of such longevity. She started with the Wilson racquets, eventually using the nCode nBlade painted H22. Since the beginning of 2008, Ivanovic has used Yonex racquets. She previously used the RQiS 1 Tour XL 95, but at the beginning of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open 2010 in Cincinnati switched to a prototype version of a new Yonex racket. Ivanovic plays with the Yonex EZONE XI 98 model tennis racquet.

Playing style

Ivanovic is an offensive baseliner who is notable for her aggressive play. In 2007 and 2008, Ivanovic was regarded as one of the best competitors on the women's tour. After winning the 2008 French Open and becoming no. 1, Ivanovic endured a decline in form. Many critics attributed this to lack of confidence. At the 2010 Australian Open, Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova commented that, "while she has absolutely no confidence in herself, she still fights till the last point." She has since made some improvements to her playing style after appointing a new coach in 2010. As a result, she started to play with more confidence and won matches more consistently.

Serve

When on form, Ivanovic's serve can be a weapon in her arsenal. She hit a 124.9 mph (201.0 km/h) serve at the French Open in 2007, the fifth fastest serve of all time on the WTA Tour. However, from 2009 to 2012, her service game has largely been viewed as a liability instead of a weapon. This is because of her inconsistent ball tosses which are directly associated with her diminishing confidence. Nonetheless, in 2013, under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, her ball tosses have since become more consistent, allowing her to build her game on her powerful first serves.

Groundstrokes

Ivanovic's forehand is her bread-and-butter shot that took the world by storm in 2007–08, propelling her to the top of the rankings. A flat stroke, hit with not a lot of topspin which gives it its power, Simon Reed believes it to be one of the best forehands in the game.Conversely, her backhand is much weaker than her forehand and is often targeted by players acquainted with Ivanovic's playing style. Her cross-court backhand generally lacks the depth required to throw her opponents off course.

While Ivanovic's movement and net play were once considered to be her weaknesses, they have both improved over the years. She is considered now to be considerably faster than when she started playing professional tennis.

Surfaces

Ivanovic's best surface is the clay court, where her height allows her to strike clean winners off high-bouncing balls. Nonetheless, she is capable of performing well on hard and grass courts as well. When she launched her re-branded site during 2010, she stated in her bio that she likes all surfaces.

Rivalries

Ivanovic vs. Jankovic

Ivanovic and Jankovic have played each other 11 times with the Ivanovic having the advantage 8 to 3 in match wins. The pair played their first match against each other in an abandoned swimming pool used as a tennis court in Belgrade. A 9-year old Jankovic won the match, thrashing the 7-year old Ivanovic 7–1. Ivanovic has dominated the majority of the rivalry. When asked why Ivanovic has posed such a problem for herself, Jankovic remarked that she struggles to read Ivanovic's game mostly due to the fact Ivanovic likes to play short points.Ivanovic leads 2–1 on clay, 5–2 on hard courts and 1–0 on hard courts.

The longest match contested between the two in the semi-finals at the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. In a match lasting two and a half hours, Ivanovic recovered from a 4-1 third set deficit, saving two match points en route, to defeat Jankovic on her way to the title.  The most significant match between the pair took place in the semi-finals of the French Open, with the winner having assured of becoming World No. 1 and with both women bidding to win their first Grand Slam title. Ivanovic won the match, recovering from a 3-1 final set deficit to defeat Jankovic for the fifth consecutive time.  Jankovic's win at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha later that year snapped a 5 match losing streak against her compatriot.

The relationship between pair has been strained. Both have openly admitted in the past to not liking each other. and have been involved in a number of high profile spats on and off court. Ivanovic was criticized both by Jankovic and her mother after Ivanovic decided to withdraw from Serbia's Fed Cup World Group play-off tie against Slovakia, citing her poor form in 2010 which left Jankovic the only high profile player to play the tie which Serbia lost the tie 3-2.During the same weekend, Ivanovic was photographed having coffee with her boyfriend Adam Scott at the island resort of Palma, Majorca. Snezana Jankovic denounced Ivanovic in the Serbian press whilst herself Jankovic later admitted she had been disappointed by Ivanovic's no show and said that Ivanovic should have at least supported the team for the bench even if she decided not to play. Another high profile controversy was after the pair's first meeting in two years in the second round of the 2010 Mutua Madrilena Madrid Open in Madrid where the the match was marred however by an incident in where off court cameras appeared to catch Jankovic mocking Ivanovic's trademark fistpumps towards her mother and camp after the match.Jankovic admitted she found Ivanovic's fistpumps "irritating" and but that it was not meant to be offensive and was in the heat of the moment. After their match in Indian Wells in 2011 however, Ivanovic stated she felt there were no real issues with Jankovic and both agreed their they have both put the past behind them, an opinion echoed again by Jankovic after their Australian Open encounter in 2013. 

Awards

Ivanovic has won the following awards:

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour most Improved player (2005)

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour most Improved player (2007)

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award (2007)

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Diamond ACES Award (2008)

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Humanitarian Award (2009)

Nominated for U.S. Secretary of State's 2007 International Women of Courage Award (2007)

Michael Westphal Award (2008)

Serbian Women's Team of The Year (2012, as part of Serbia Fed Cup team)

Best Female Tennis Player In Serbia (2012)

Award Pride of the Nation by Serbia Tennis Federation

Personal life

Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.

Ivanovic briefly dated Australian golfer Adam Scott in 2010, but the pair split in September which coincided with a run of poor performances that left her 40th in the world rankings. The pair briefly reunited in 2011, before splitting up again just one year later.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđevic, Jelena Jankovic and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovic visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids."

Video games

Ivanovic has appeared as a character in Smash Court Tennis 3, released in 2007, Virtua Tennis 2009, released in 2009, Grand Slam Tennis for Wii, also released in 2009, Top Spin 4 and Virtua Tennis 4 both released in 2011. She is also featured in Grand Slam Tennis 2, released in 2012. She stars, among others, alongside Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lindsay Davenport, Anna Chakvetadze, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.

Other ventures

Ivanovic has appeared in a song called "Hurricane Ana", produced by Serbian rapper Filip Filipi and Collie Buddz. Also, she appeared on a number of international magazines like FHM (Germany, United Kingdom, Australia), Vanity Fair (Spain), Cosmopolitan (Serbia), Vanidades (Mexico), Grazia (Serbia), The Best Shop (Serbia) and Sports Illustrated (South Africa).

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