Ana Ivanovic
Ana Ivanović rise to the top of the tennis world truly is a remarkable story. From growing up in war torn Yugoslavia, where she had to arrange her practice sessions around the NATO bombing campaign, she is now one of the leading players on the WTA Tour. Ana has to date won five ITF Circuit tittles and seven WTA Tour tittles including the 2008 French Open. Her marketing appeal is rivalled only by Maria Sharapova. She is the face of the Addidas tennis range, has a lucrative racquet deal with Yonex and is reported to have the most-visited website of any sportswoman worldwide.
Early Life
Ana Ivanović was born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, Serbia, then Yugoslavia to Miroslav and Dragana a businessman and lawyer respectively. Ana began playing tennis at age 5 after watching her hero and fellow Serbian Monica Seles win the 1992 French Open on TV. She memorized the phone number to a local tennis school after seeing a TV advert and begged her parents to take her. Ana was given a racquet for her fifth birthday by her father and began playing everyday. Her training was interrupted immensely during the Kosovo Conflict and Ana has since stated that she could only train during the mornings for fear of the bombing campaign carried out on Belgrade. She has also admitted she would train in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as there was a lack of proper tennis facilities.
WTA Career Ivanović first came to attention of the tennis world when she reached the final of the Junior Wimbledon tournament in 2004, before losing to Kateryna Bondarenko. She also made a huge impact on the ITF circuit, winning all 5 events that she entered, 2 of them as a qualifier. Her first WTA Tour breakthrough came in October of 2004 when she reached the second round of the Zürich Open in Switzerland. Ana came through a 3-set battle with then-ranked number 27 Tatiana Golovin of France in the first round to face Venus Williams. Ivanović took the former world number 1 to two tie breaks before losing 7–6(11), 7–6(6). She followed that up with a quarterfinal showing in Fortis Championships, Luxemburg the following week. 2005 saw Ivanović win her first career singles title, as a qualifier at the Canberra International tournament in Australia defeating Melinda Czink in the final. Her ranking continued to rise after impressive wins over three top ten ranked players Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, and Vera Zvonareva. After losing to Amelie Mauresmo at the Australian Open, Ivanović defeated Mauresmo in the third round of the French Open on her way to her first Grand Slam quarter final appearance. Later in the year, Ivanović reached the semi finals of the Zurich Open and Generali Ladies Linz, losing in both to Patty Schnyder. The 2007 season saw Ivanović win three tour tittles. The first at the German Open defeating Svetlana Kuznetsova in three sets in the final. The second came at JPMorgan Chase Open, Los Angeles where she beat Nadia Petrova in the final. Then in September she beat Daniela Hantuchová 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to win the Fortis Championships in Luxembourg City, Luxembourg. Ivanović also made her first Grand Slam final appearance at the French Open. Seeded seventh Ivanović defeated World No.3 Kuznetsova 6–0, 3–6, 6–1 in the quarter finals, World No. 2 Sharapova in the semi finals 6–2, 6–1, before losing in the final to Belgian top seed Justine Henin Hardenne. Ivanović finished the year with a career-high ranking at World No. 4.
Ivanović entered the 2008 Australian Open as the fourth seed and reached the quarterfinals for the first time. There, Ivanović defeated Venus Williams for the first time 7–6, 6–4. In her semi final against Daniela Hantuchova, Ivanović prevailed 0–6, 6–3, 6–4 to reach her second career Grand Slam singles final, after having trailed 6–0, 2–0. She then lost to Maria Sharapova 7–5, 6–3. Because of her performance at this tournament, her ranking rose to World No. 2, the highest of her career. In March 2008 Ana won her sixth career Tour singles title at Indian Wells as top seed she beat the No.3 seed Jelana Jankovic in semi final and No.2 seed Kuznetsova in final. Ivanović was the second-seeded player at the French Open and made her second consecutive final. This time however she was to take the title, her first and to date only Grand Slam success beating Dinara Safina 6-3, 6-4. Again Ana’s season was affected by injury and failed to build on this success with disappointing showings in the years two remaining Grand Slams at Wimbledon and The US Open. Off Court In her home country of Serbia Ana is one of the most famous sports stars, The President, Boris Tadic, even attended her 20th birthday party and she has featured on a Serbian postage stamp. In 2007, Ivanović became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside basketball star Aleksandar Đorđević and film director Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanović is also known for her passionate support of the Partizan Belgrade Football team and also studies finance at a university in Belgrade. Ana Ivanovic Links AskMen | BabeInvasion | Babepedia.com | Bestzilla | Celebrity Link | Chickipedia | Famous Hookups | Forever Top | Free Ones | Star Pages
After some disappointing showings in the 2006 Australian and French opens Ana progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon but lost to eventual champion Amelie Mauresmo. Ivanović highlight of the year came in August when she defeated former world number one Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-3 in the final of the Canada Masters in Montreal. This ultimately led to her winning the United States Open Series ahead of Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. Ana was hampered by injury for much of the remaining 2006 WTA Tour season, but she still finished the year as the 14th best ranked woman in the world.