Ivanovic putting on a brave face
I thought we saw the 2008 women's champion on Thursday, but was that really her?
Ana Ivanovic lost 6-3 6-0 to the impressive Alisa Kleybanova in the third round and, despite signs of improvement, was way too inconsistent to live with the power-hitting of the Russian.
The 22-year-old Serb then came into the interview room with a peculiar summary: "I didn't think I did too much wrong out there. I was a little bit unlucky with so many line calls on my serve and just everything going out."
A lot did go out. A lot hit the net too. Kleybanova was excellent but for Ivanovic there is much to do.
Ivanovic preferred not to look after some points on Friday. Photo: Getty Images
At least she sounds enthused by recent work with coach Heinz Gunthardt, who coached Steffi Graf for many years but has spent a long time off the tour and in the commentary box.
After employing a series of coaches - David Taylor, Sven Groenveld and Craig Cardon - Ivanovic enlisted the services of the Swiss back in February.
As well as a few technical changes, not least with the service motion, Gunthardt is trying to get Ivanovic believing in herself.
Lack of confidence appears to have been one of the reasons for her fall.
"It's going well," said the player, continuing her streak of unbridled positivity. "I'm really happy. Heinz is a great coach. Improvements in my game have been really big and very visible."
The serve seems to be the key issue - broken three times in the second set - and as she threw the ball up in the final game, her the bottom lip appeared to be quivering. Back to that self-doubt, perhaps.
She simply has to believe that practice will pay off. Having reached the final here in 2007, Ivanovic became champion 12 months later and started Wimbledon as the world number one.
Not much has gone right since.
In March, she slumped to world number 58 - her lowest ranking since 2005, when she was still 17. But it hasn't stopped Adidas offering her a lifetime endorsement deal.
They clearly believe, Gunthart believes.... but does Ana?
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Comment number 1.
At 12:47 28th May 2010, umpteenth_time_user save 606 wrote:All a good-looking girl has to do is win one slam, then they've got their million pound sponsorship deals for life.
Perhaps with these millions guaranteed, Ana doesn't feel the need to work hard at her game anymore? The same can be said of Sharapova perhaps?
Just an alternate way of looking at it. It's the most logical explanation for a slump as huge as Anas.
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Comment number 2.
At 14:18 28th May 2010, Moneythegreatest wrote:Well this may come as a surprise to many but I don't how to say this but I'll just say it... I had a crush on Ana Ivanovic but when I saw her partying with Richard Branson and co. I sent a curse upon her (sorta like what the gypsy woman did in "Drag Me To Hell") unfortunately I didn't think it would work... it did! Now she probably won't win a darn tournament... if ever! It's also worth noting that back when I sent the curse she was world no. 1 and no she's outside the top 40?!
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Comment number 3.
At 14:44 28th May 2010, Sinaha wrote:She spends a great deal of time modeling, so what can you expect on court?
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Comment number 4.
At 16:07 28th May 2010, jollyeric wrote:@Moneythegreatest How did you get hold of a personnal item of hers to evoke the curse?
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Comment number 5.
At 17:26 28th May 2010, BrightonCynic wrote:What a waste of money this blog is - absolutely nothing in it at all and just secondhand speculation in the comments. Save Radio 6 and scrap tosh like this.
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Comment number 6.
At 17:49 28th May 2010, OhhhhMattyMatty wrote:Poor Ana! :-(
She'll always have FHM & Sports Illustrated though! :-)
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Comment number 7.
At 19:11 28th May 2010, rjaggar wrote:I suspect that she found the transition from a young girl just focussed on getting to World Number One to someone not only required to play high quality tennis but also be the sponsors' darling more challenging than many might imagine.
It's a different mentality going for it to get there and staying there.
Perhaps that is a challenge she didn't enjoy before?
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Comment number 8.
At 15:03 29th May 2010, knowledge is good wrote:She works very hard on her tennis. I believe she has turned a corner and we will see more improved results later. But her head seems to go quickly when she goes down quickly or it goes tight at the mo
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Comment number 9.
At 15:04 29th May 2010, knowledge is good wrote:Just needs better game plans and more mental strengh, which will come with a consistant serve
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