News Archive

   NEWS of  Medibank International

  08.01.2006              First win
       

A TANTALISING glimpse of the future of the women's game presented itself at Sydney Olympic Park  in the forms of Serbia teenager Ana Ivanovic and China's Peng Shuai, who was celebrating her 20th birthday.

Although their opening appearances in Sydney suggested their top form was still distant, there was enough evidence to predict they will be forces in the season to come.

The hard-hitting 18-year-old from Belgrade and the tenacious double-hander from Hunan are entrenched in the top 50 and are expected to rise as the weeks progress.

As Ivanovic admitted after the match, "we can both play much better", in which case a place in the top 10 beckons.

Ivanovic, who is ranked No.21 in the world after a breakthrough year, emerged victorious, 6-2 6-4, then declared her goal for the year was to make the top 10.

Returning to Australia was a pleasure for her after winning her maiden title in Canberra 12 months ago.

Ivanovic arrived from Europe early to practise outdoors in the heat, thereby gaining at least a theoretical advantage over some of her rivals.

"Australia is always something special for me," Ivanovic said. "I always enjoy coming back here. Winning the title last year was great. It's a great way to start the year."

Even as a teen, Ivanovic is beginning to experience the rigours of the WTA Tour, the long months away from home and the spectre of injury. Mostly, she is accompanied by her mother, Dragana, whose presence this month has been supported by other members of her growing family.

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"I came to Melbourne at the beginning of December and I was practising with Tennis Australia at Melbourne Park," Ivanovic said.

"We have relatives in Melbourne and I was staying with them. Both my parents are with me this time ... but it's hard to be away from home. It's definitely helpful to have people around me.

"When I started playing tennis, I knew there would be a lot of sacrifices, and this is one of them."

Ivanovic, on her first foray into the Sydney tournament, has a second-round match against the No.2 seed, Amelie Mauresmo, although she will be encouraged by the fact that she beat the Frenchwoman at Roland Garros last year.

"I'm just going to play my game and make as few mistakes as possible," Ivanovic said. "Against someone like Amelie, you should not make too many unforced errors.

"I know what she likes to do so it's all about my game."

For Mauresmo, who had a bye into the second round, the match represents an opportunity to make amends for her loss at the French Open.

"This is a chance for revenge for me," Mauresmo said. "She is a very consistent, tough player - one of the young players coming up." 

from foxsports.news.com.au  By Patrick Miles 

   NEWS of  Medibank International

10.01.2006         
       

Second-seeded Amelie Mauresmo was bounced out of the Sydney International with a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Ana Ivanovic of Serbia-Montenegro in the second round on Tuesday.

Mauresmo, in her first match since winning the season-ending WTA Championship in November, struggled with her own serve and Ivanovic's booming forehand.

The third-ranked Mauresmo got less than 40 percent of her first serves in, and was broken five times.

It was her second loss to rising star Ivanovic, following a third-round upset at the last French Open.

Ivanovic beat Mauresmo with a power game that in time could challenge the best on the circuit.

While her error count was almost twice that of her opponent, two big aces and a succession of powerful winners from both wings proved too much for Mauresmo.

Ivanovic crunched 21 winners to Mauresmo's four, setting up two match points with a pair of serious forehands.

She took the match with her second match point, leaving Mauresmo with no more competitive tennis ahead of the Australian Open next week.

"Last year was a good year for me and this year will be better," Ana said after today's win.

"It was a tough match. It's very hard to play against people (like Mauresmo), but if you want to be the best you have to beat the best."

"I think it's at the level with the biggest hitters in the women's game," said Mauresmo. "She's hitting it pretty hard and also is capable of really hiding it well that's her biggest weapon."

Ivanovic next faces sixth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open winner, who led Dinara Safina 6-3 when her fellow Russian withdrew because of blisters on her left foot. It will be 3rd match Ana with Svetlana, score today 1:1.

   NEWS of  Medibank International

  11.01.2006              
       

 Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova beat the rain and Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday at the Medibank International tennis tournament.

     Despite gaining an early break in the opening set, rising star Ana Ivanovic was unable to reproduce the kind of hitting that saw her upset world No.3 Amelie Mauresmo in the second round.

    No.6 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova was able to break her opponent’s serve at 2-3 in the first to bring the set back on serve and eventually claim the set in a tiebreaker.

     Ivanovic tried hard in the second, but it was the more experienced Russian who, after beating her opponent at the Hopman Cup last week, was able to make it two wins in two weeks against the Serbian world No.21, winning 7-6(3) 6-3.

May be it is so much the better for her.  She will be the better practice for Australian Open next week.