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.
