The golfer told a Norwegiean site that he and Ivanovic are starting to date again after breaking up last year. Here’s a Google translation of his comments:

Scott has just taken up the relationship with the Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic. The pair broke each other a year ago.

“Ana and I have just begun to see each other again,” reveals Scott. “We have found a way to get it working well on. The past has taught me is that if you want anything to work, you’ll get it to work. Without problems.

“Ana is an amazing person. She is the most caring I have ever met. It is rare to meet such people, especially when they are in the position she is.”

Scott reveals that Ana Ivanovic is very down to earth and pleasant to be around. At the same time, she has a great sense of humor and is great fun. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to keep up with her.”

Well good luck to both of them. Let’s hope this is a winning formula for Ana who is still trying to regain her form. The good news is she’s at least 20th in the rankings. The bad news is she’s still far from looking like an elite player.

via Busted Racquet

Ana Ivanovic has gone from French Open champion to wild card qualifier, and now she’s trying to work her way back up the tennis rankings. The 23-year-old Serbian is seeded 19th in this year’s Australian Open and said prior to the tournament “I’m in really good shape compared to previous years.” She wasn’t joking.

Ivanovic, who was 20 and 21 years old when she was at the peak of her game between 2007 and 2008, has dropped a little over 10 pounds recently. Watching her first-round match against Ekaterina Makarova, Ana was moving about the court with ease and reaching balls she never used to. She was extending rallies with her footwork, and making her opponent earn every point.

Ana won’t be confused for Michael Chang anytime soon, but she managed plenty of winners and few unforced errors. Best part of all, she seems to have fixed one of the biggest weaknesses in her game — her toss. Instead of hitting erratic serves off bad tosses, she’s now catching her tosses to avoid the bad shot.

Ivanovic’s draw isn’t the easiest — she should win her first three matches before facing Kim Clijsters in the 4th round, but the good news is she appears to be in the kind of shape to get back in the Top 10.

UPDATE: After taking the first set 6-3, Ivanovic lost the next two sets 6-4 and 10-8. She fought back from down 0-40 in two service games in the final set, and fought off five match points altogether. Though she’s in shape, Ivanovic still needs to work on the mental part of her game so she can finish off opponents.

Ana did not make it past the fourth round of any major in 2009. 2010 has proven to be an even more miserable year for Ivanovic; she bowed out of the Australian Open and French Open in the second round and Wimbledon in the first. With an 11-12 record on the year, the Serbian beauty’s world ranking is down to 63rd. As a result, Ivanovic can’t make it into most tournament draws so she has to request a wild card from the hosts. Unfortunately for Ana, the people running the show in Montreal are denying her a wild card for the Rogers Cup, forcing her to go through qualifying.

Ordinarily I’d say that Ana has done this too herself and that is the truth. However, it must also be noted that there are three wild cards available for the Rogers Cup draw and it appears as if one is going to 125th ranked Stephanie Dubois, who also happens to be Canadian. Between Dubois and Aleksandra Wozniak, that’s two wild cards going to Canadians. Ivanovic’s poor play speaks for itself this year, but she is ranked twice as high as Wozniak, a former winner in Montreal, and they’re using her in a promotional ad on the tournament’s Web site. You would think they’d find a way to work her into the main draw but obviously that’s not the case. Oh well, looks like she’ll have to earn her way in — something Dubois should be doing.

Sources:
A humbling decline for Ivanovic [Globe and Mail]

Whether it’s injuries, coaching changes, or a struggle playing with the bulls eye on her back, Ivanovic hasn’t responded well to her success last year. At this point she’s fallen so far and she’s so far removed from her Grand Slam win that the bulls eye excuse no longer applies. I don’t know if she grew complacent with her win, focusing on her vacationing and her new boyfriend because she was pleased she reached the mountaintop, but she needs to regain focus before she becomes a one-hit wonder. This awful streak of constant underachievement is simply disappointing. She needs to turn it around.

I do have to say, I think Jacqueline Carvalho might be my favorite. She’s awesome. Not sure if her team’s any good, but she sure is.

More pics from the shoot after the jump, as well as some of Ana’s analysis from her loss at Wimbledon.

In her online diary, Ana says she understands she’s a bigger target as the top ranked player in the world:

Despite her ranking, Zheng played like a top 20 player, no question. I think that this is something I will have to get used to if I am to be the No.1 player in the world: there is extra motivation to beat the top-ranked player, and less pressure, because not many people expect you to do it. I know this because I have played No.1 players myself in the past, and I was always extra motivated, and my coaches told me I had nothing to lose, so I could just enjoy it.

I am beginning to understand the pressure that Roger Federer must experience everytime he goes onto court. I admire him so much for the way he handles it. With time I am sure I will learn how to deal with the expectation that comes with being No.1. I did feel extra pressure coming to this tournament, but I definitely don’t blame my defeat on that, and I still enjoyed myself here.

Yes, that’s precisely what makes Roger so incredible — it’s not easy to keep winning when you have that bullseye on your back and you’re getting everyone’s best shot. Anyway, onto more important things, like Ana:

Photos courtesy of Erratic Magic, and man, does she look good.

Now, onto important matters. With a Grand Slam win her pocket and the No. 1 ranking to come, where does this place Ana on the list of hottest top-ranked tennis players of all-time? I say she takes the top spot amongst the No. 1′s easily. After the jump, I have some of her competition …

Maria Sharapova has held the top spot on the WTA tour on four different occasions for a combined total of 17 weeks. She proved she wasn’t just an Anna Kournikova clone by claiming the top spot, not to mention a Wimbledon, U.S., and Australian Open title.

Now just a housewife, there was a time when Mrs. Agassi was a hot, single tennis player. She held the top spot for a record 186 weeks between ’87-’91, and then got it back later in ’91 and held it on and off to ’96 (thanks to the Seles stabbing). Graf held the top spot for a record 377 weeks in her career.

There hasn’t been a centerfold of Jennifer Capriati, probably because she was too young to pose when she was actually good looking. After her drug days she returned to the sport bloated and her game was never quite as good as it was when she was young. From late ’01-early ’02, Capriati held the top spot for 17 weeks.

Serena steamed things up when she posed nude for a magazine shoot recently. Sporting perhaps the most athletic build and curviest body to grace a tennis court, Serena grabbed the top spot in the Summer of ’02, and held it for over a year straight for a solid 57 weeks. While her interest in the sport wanes, she’s still a top player and looker in the game.

As I said before, there’s really no competition. Ana Ivanovic is the best looking tennis player to also be the top player in the world. That’s a pretty hard combination to beat. Simply put, she’s got it all. Here’s to many more weeks at #1 to come.

I don’t know about you, but I’m bout it bout it. I mean seriously, what better way to send your business than with Ana? I might even opt for snail mail over email just to justify picking up a few of these bad boys.

So yeah, she’s a tennis player from Austria and lost to Jelena Jankovic in the Australian Open this week. Oh yeah. And she’s 17. But that’s not for too long. Tamira has some goods, but she’s no Ana Ivanovic if you ask me.

Thanks to Andy for passing along. (also spotted at Deadspin, SbB, and WL)

After all, she was only 11 when NATO forces shelled Belgrade after the breakup of Yugoslavia.

Winter workouts were held indoors as a couple of inventive youth coaches drained the water from a little-used Olympic-sized pool, rolled out green carpet, set up a couple of nets and established a pair of tennis courts.

In the summer, practices were held outdoors on clay courts, but often in the early mornings to avoid the worst of the bombing.

Man, you hear about basketball players learning to ball in the ghetto, and track stars learning to run while escaping the police, but I’ve never quite heard of learning to play tennis while evading bombing. That really brings a whole new sense of real life to me. When I used to practice tennis, all I cared about was the Cactus Cooler I was gonna buy from the vending machine when I got done. Man I’m glad I never had to worry about bombings. How’s that for a reality check.

(Image courtesy Ana’s Official Site)