Ana Ivanovic – Tennis Star
Born in Basel, Switzerland in 1987, Ana Ivanovic is a 6’1 tennis star. When she was just 5 years old, Ana fell in love with tennis after seeing Monica Seles on TV. She begged her parents to let her take tennis lessons, to which they agreed and bought her a tennis racket for her birthday. His years of training were less than ideal due to the NATO bombing in 1999. He began having morning practices to help avoid chaos and even began training in an abandoned swimming pool during the winter months due to lack of facilities. Ana turned professional in August 2003, making her debut on the ITF Circuit. In 2004, he finished in the Top 100, making the largest ranking jump of any player that year. He also reached the final of the Junior Wimbledon tournament that same year. Her first big performance came when she led Venus Williams to two tiebreaks, until she finally lost at the Zurich Open in Switzerland.
Brief history of the tournament
Ana won her first career singles title in 2005, playing in Canberra Australia. She continues her victories after defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova, Vera Zvonareva and Nadia Petrova, all considered top 10 players. She reached the quarterfinals of the French Open that same year, losing to Petrova. Moving on, Ivanovic reached the semifinals of the 2005 Zurich Open and the Generali Ladies Linz, both tournaments she lost to Patty Schnyder. In 2006 Ivanovic played tournaments in Australia, Warsaw and Berlin. She also advanced to the third round of the French Open and the fourth at Wimbledon 2006. After suffering several losses in 2006, Ivanovic scored a major victory when she defeated former World No.1 Martina Hingis in the Montreal Rogers Cup final. . She went on to win the US Open series ahead of Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijisters. She lost the US Open to Serena Williams.
Shortly after playing the US Open, he had to recover from a recurring injury that affected his right shoulder. Her comeback occurred in Linz and she reached the quarterfinals before losing to Sharapova.
Ana also played an additional nine tournaments in doubles, teaming with Maria Kirileno and Sania Mirza. Ana finished 2006 placing at number 14 in the world in the ranking and number 51 in the world in doubles. Ivanovic began 2007 with three tournaments in Australia, losing in all three. Shortly after the losses, Ana fired her trainer David Taylor. As the year progressed, she entered the French Open riding a 6 match win streak and was ultimately defeated. She was later forced to withdraw from the Serbian Fed Cup and the US Open due to a knee injury she sustained at Wimbledon. Upon his return, he played in and won the East West Bank Classic in California and increased his ranking to World No. 4, the highest of his career. It was in 2008 that Ana finally defeated Venus Williams for the first time in her career. Ultimately, she was defeated by Sharapova, but her ranking rose to World No. 2 during the tournament performance.
In recent months, Ana has again been plagued by injury, this time a torn thigh, which is not thought to keep her out of the upcoming series of tournaments. As a player, Ana likes to play on all surfaces and her forehand is considered to be her best shot. Personally, he admires Federer for his professionalism both in and out of the game. She’s also superstitious because she won’t be walking the court lines and dining at the same restaurants during her stay at the tournament. Ana speaks Serbian, English and some Spanish fluently.
Additional Ivanovic Awards
- 2004 Wimbledon Junior Runner-up
- Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Most Improved Player 2005
- 2006 US Open Series Champion
- Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Most Improved Player 2007
- Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Karen Krantzcke Sportsmanship Award 2007
- UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia
- Nominated for the US Secretary of State’s 2007 International Women of Courage Award.
- AIPS Women’s Tennis Player of the Year 2008
- German Tennis Magazine Michael Westphal Award 2008
- 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Diamond ACES Award
- 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Humanitarian Award