News Archive

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

 23.06.2006

  Ana Ivanovic was seeded 19th on the Wimbledon Championships, which begin on Monday.
    In the first round she will play against Emmanuelle Gagliardi from Switzerland (119th number of WTA ranking). Emmanuelle 12 years play in WTA tournaments but earlier she did not meet with Ana. 
    Should she overcome the Swiss, Ana will face either Marta Domachowska of Poland, whom she beat at the J&S Cup in Warsaw two months ago, or British wild card Sarah Borwell. Ana's scheduled third round opponent is No.14 seeded Russian Dinara Safina, while top seed Amelie Mauresmo awaits in round four.

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

28.06.2006         Ana through to round two

    It was not the prettiest of performances, but Ana is into the second round of the Championships after beating Emmanuelle Gagliardi 7-5, 7-6.
    “It was a strange match,” said Ana. “There were many breaks of serve and she was playing very well. I am just happy that I took my chances. It definitely wasn’t my best tennis but the important thing is that I won and I am in the next round.”
    Ana’s second round opponent is Sarah Borwell. The Briton, who is ranked 249, surprisingly beat Poland’s Marta Domachowska today.
    Ana began slowly and fell 3-0 behind as Gagliardi played some smart grass court tennis, hitting the ball flatly and without much pace. Ana took a long time to settle into her rhythm and struggled to generate her own power. What’s more, she failed to make many first serves. “I need to improve my serve for the next match,” she said.
    Ana broke back but, when serving at 4-2, she required treatment for a minor respiratory problem, which is a result of low sugar levels. Ana suffered the same ailment during her victory over Amelie Mauresmo at the French Open last year.
    “It happens very occasionally,” said Ana. “It wasn’t serious, I was never in danger of not completing the match. I am seeing a doctor about it and hopefully it won’t be a problem again.”
    The treatment certainly helped, as Ana returned and held serve before breaking to level at 4-4. It was still far from her best tennis but Ana started to use her forehand to greater effect and, despite facing further pressure on her serve, clinched the opening set 7-5.
The first six games of the second set were all service breaks before Ana held, broke again and served for the match at 5-3. However, she lost her concentration when her cap came off during her service motion when match point up, and was broken. She eventually won the set 7-4 on a tiebreak.
    “I am happy that I was able to fight,” Ana said. “Sometimes you have to win matches when you are not playing so well. I am pleased I did that today.
“I don’t know much about my next opponent but she must be playing really well if she beat Domachowska. It is not a problem physically to play two days in a row but sometimes it is mentally. I’m going to relax tonight and have an easy evening at home.”

  By Gavin Versi    www.anaivanovic.com   

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

  29.06.2006      Ana breezes into round three

  Ana thrashed Britain's Sarah Borwell 6-1, 6-2 to reach the third round of the Championships. In a match lasting just 46 minutes, Ana gave a much improved performance on her first round showing, blasting 22 winners and making just 12 unforced errors.
    “It was quite a good match for me,” said Ana. “I was really aggressive, coming into the court. She has a great serve but I managed to play even better returns, which was very important. I’m really happy with the way I played.”
    Despite opening the match with a double fault and making three unforced errors, Ana surged into a 3-0 lead before Borwell, the world No.249, got her name on the scoreboard. Ana was in total control, dominating the rallies with her forehand and putting pressure on the 26-year-old’s deliveries by standing inside the baseline to receive serve.
    “With my game, I don’t feel that I would ever get blown off the court,” said Borwell. “But with someone like Ivanovic, whose serve is bigger than mine, I was hitting possibly the hardest serves I could, and she was just putting them past me. It’s pretty daunting, to be honest.”
    Ana was relentless, bossing almost every baseline exchange and, when her opponent approached the net, the 18-year-old passed her more often than not. Borwell could not cope with the pace of Ana’s strokes. “I’ve never seen the ball come at me that hard before,” she said.
    The second set followed a similar pattern to the first, as Ana continued to dominate. “I concentrated throughout the match,” said Ana, who sealed victory with a trademark inside-out forehand winner.
    “I thought about what I had to do, for example staying low because of the bounce on grass. I definitely improved on this from the first match [against Gagliardi].
“I took the opportunities I had and didn’t give her the chance to play her game. That was the key to the match. I was also a little bit more relaxed and knew what I wanted to do. I’m going to try and do the same for the next one.”
    Match statistics

   After safely negotiating opening round matches against players ranked 118 and 249, now the real challenges begin for Ana. She takes on Russian No.14 seed Dinara Safina in the third round tomorrow.
    Ana has played the 20-year-old once before: on the clay of Berlin a year ago, when she lost 6-1, 6-4. “I think it’s a little bit of a different situation here,” said Ana. “We’ve both improved. Definitely she’s playing great tennis. I also had very good practice lately.
    “I’m excited about this match and just want to go out there and do my best. I will focus like I did against Borwell. I think the key will be to move forward, especially because we are playing on grass.”
   Ana’s performance against the Briton was significantly better than her first round display against Emmanuelle Gagliardi. The Swiss broke Ana six times but Borwell failed to do so even once, despite Ana only producing 43 per cent of first serves.
   After the match, Borwell revealed that of all the players on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, Ana is the one she admires most. She gave a most gracious appraisal of the Serbian.
    “She’s my favourite player. I watched her in Japan in February [at the Toray Pan Pacific Open]. I said to my coach then, ‘I want to play like Ivanovic.’ She’s amazing how she takes it on. You never know which way she’s gonna hit the ball, but as soon as she does, it’s past you.”
    One of the most impressive aspects of Ana’s game yesterday was her concentration. Despite being in total control of the match she never allowed her focus to waiver. “There was no time that I could relax. You cannot give an opponent the chance to come back,” said Ana, whose preparation for the match was slightly affected by confusion over where it would take place on: it was moved from Court 18 to Court 6, then to Court 14.
   Ana is in doubles action today alongside Maria Kirilenko. The pair face Jelena Jankovic, Ana’s fellow Serb, and Tina Krizan, with whom Ana played doubles last year. The match is scheduled as the third on Court 6 and is expected to begin sometime after 3pm local time (4pm Central European Time).
   “It will be a good opportunity to practice my volleys before my next singles match,” said Ana.

By Gavin Versi    www.anaivanovic.com   

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

 30.06.2006      

  Ana and Maria Kirienko lost their first round doubles match against Jelena Jankovic and Tina Krizan. The teenagers lost 6-3, 6-4 in what ranks as their most disappointing result of their short partnership.
    Ana and Maria had reached two semi-finals and a final in their first three tournaments together so hopes were high, but Jankovic and Krizan, both of whom have played twice as many doubles matches as Ana, proved too strong and won the big points.

  www.anaivanovic.com     

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

 01.07.2006      

  Ana reached the second week of Wimbledon for the first time after a superb come-from-behind victory over 14th seed Dinara Safina. Ana triumphed 3-6, 7-6, 6-1 in a highly entertaining encounter on Saturday lunchtime.
    At 6-3, 4-2 down Ana was staring defeat in the face but the 18-year-old turned things round spectacularly, cutting out the unforced errors to blitz her opponent with an arsenal of explosive forehands.
    “I think it was a great match,” said Ana. “It turned around a little bit in the second set. I started a little bit nervously. She was playing good and was a little bit lucky.” Indeed it was a fortunate net cord that helped the Russian clinch the pivotal break of the first set.
    “Towards the end of the second set I just started to believe more that I can do it. I started to attack more. She probably started to be a little bit more defensive and I tried to use that as an opportunity to move forward and keep her under pressure.”
    If Ana was nervous at the very start of the match, she did not show it. She immediately put Safina on the back foot with two searing returns. Allied to a mis-hit return that landed smack on the baseline, Ana held three break points. However, she was tentative on each and Safina eventually held. “I was holding back a little bit instead of getting in the court and finishing the points,” Ana reflected.
    Safina maintained an excellent length on her groundstrokes, which made it hard for Ana to attack. The Russian also pressured Ana’s serve and took the opening set 6-3. Critically, or so it seemed, she then broke Ana in the first game of the second set.
    Both players held serve until, with Safina 4-3 up, Ana broke back. She began to look like a different player as she dominated most rallies. Ana had the match on her racket inasmuch as points were being decided by how often she could hit winners. “I like to dictate points,” she said.
    Ana missed a set point in the 12th game but produced the goods during a high-quality tiebreak, which she won 7-3 .
    Ana maintained her charge, piling pressure on the Safina serve in the opening game of the decider and breaking the 20-year-old thanks in part to some excellent defence. From then on Ana controlled things and only dropped one further game. She sealed victory on her fourth match point before celebrating a most satisfying win by briefly holding her arms aloft.
    “I’m really pleased I took the opportunities in the second set and I played some pretty good tennis in the tiebreak” said Ana, who plays top seed and world No.1 Amelie Mauresmo in the fourth round on Monday. “I think that was what changed the match.
    “It’s very exciting to be here playing top players and even beating them. I’m going into the second week for the first time here. That’s what I am working for and hoping for.
    “I’m just trying to keep this level. I had a little a little bit of a tough time these last two months, no coach and everything. Now I’m looking forward and it’s very exciting.”

By Gavin Versi     www.anaivanovic.com    

   Match statistics

   NEWS of  Wimbledon

 03.07.2006      

  
    Ana’s Wimbledon came to an end as she was beaten 6-3, 6-4 by top seed Amelie Mauresmo. It was a brilliant display of grass court tennis by the Frenchwoman, who served expertly and attacked the net at just the rights moments during the 68-minute match.
    “She was serving really good,” said Ana. “I had problems to return her serves. She was coming into the net a lot and putting pressure on me. Knowing that she was holding serve so well put more pressure on my serve.”
    Ana made a positive start and won the opening point with a backhand winner. She was 15-30 ahead in both of Mauresmo’s opening two service games but could not capitalise. It was a very even start, with the first five games going with serve until the Frenchwoman broke Ana in the sixth game. It proved decisive as she wrapped up the set 6-3.
    “At the beginning I had a chance on her serves and she didn’t have many on mine. But then I made a couple of mistakes and she used her chances straightaway,” said Ana.
   Ana held to love in the opening game of the second set but a fine lob by the world No.1, allied to a crafty net approach, saw Mauresmo gain a stranglehold on the match. She broke again and led 5-2.
    The 18-year-old mis-hit more shots than usual, probably due to bad bounces. That is to take nothing away from the fine performance of Mauresmo, who was commanding throughout and volleyed well.
    Ana, who was playing the Frenchwoman for the seventh time, said: “She came in a lot. It was very different to the matches we’ve played before. She made it very difficult for me.”
   As the top seed served for the match at 5-2, Ana broke for the first time. She held and then had two break point chances at 4-5, but could not convert either. Again, Mauresmo saved them with some strong serving, and closed out the match with a forehand volley.
    “That’s why she’s No.1 – because she played some good tennis on the important points,” said Ana.
    "Of course I'm disappointed but I always like to try to stay positive. I am still young and there will be many more opportunities."

By Gavin Versi     www.anaivanovic.com    

   Match statistics