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Ana Ivanović

Serbian tennis player

Ana Ivanović (Serbian: Ана Ивановић audio speaker iconlisten (help·info)) born 6 November 1987) is a Serbian former profesional tennis player.[6] She was the number 1 player for 12 weeks from June to September 2008.[7] She won the French Open in 2008 and came second there in 2007. She also came second at the Australian Open in 2008. She has also played tennis for Serbia in the international tournament called the Fed Cup.

Ana Ivanovic
Ivanovic at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships
Native nameАна Ивановић
Ana Ivanović
Country (sports) Serbia and Montenegro (2004–2006)[1][2]
 Serbia (2006–2016)
ResidenceChicago, Illinois[3]
Born (1987-11-06) 6 November 1987 (age 36)
Belgrade, SR Serbia, SFR Yugoslavia
Height184 cm (6 ft 0 in)[4][5]
Turned pro17 August 2003
Retired28 December 2016
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
Prize money$15,510,787
Official websiteOfficial website
Singles
Career record480–225 (68.09%)
Career titles15 WTA, 5 ITF
Highest rankingNo. 1 (9 June 2008)
Grand Slam Singles results
Australian OpenF (2008)
French OpenW (2008)
WimbledonSF (2007)
US OpenQF (2012)
Other tournaments
Tour FinalsSF (2007)
Olympic Games3R (2012)
Doubles
Career record30–35
Highest rankingNo. 50 (25 September 2006)
Grand Slam Doubles results
French Open1R (2005, 2007)
Wimbledon3R (2005)
US Open3R (2006)
Mixed doubles
Career record2–2
Grand Slam Mixed Doubles results
Australian Open2R (2006)
French Open2R (2005)
US Open1R (2011)
Other mixed doubles tournaments
Olympic Games1R (2012)
Team competitions
Fed CupF (2012), record 20–9
Hopman CupF (2013)

Ivanović is tall, and is famous for the way she plays. She is best known for her powerful serve. Although she is Serbian, Ivanović currently lives in Basel, Switzerland. As of January 2015, she has earned over $13 million during her tennis career. Outside tennis, she is interested in clothes and fashion, and is an ambassador for the worldwide charity for children, UNICEF.[8]

In December 2016, Ivanović announced her retirement from pro tennis.[9][10]

Early and personal life

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Ivanović was born in Belgrade in Serbia (which used to be in Yugoslavia). She watched tennis on television when she was five years old, and said, "I loved watching tennis on television, particularly Monica Seles."[11] While she was growing up, the country was bombed by NATO, so she had to arrange her training to avoid this.[12] She would even practice tennis in an empty swimming pool during the winter.[13] When she was 14 years old, she was asked what she dreamed of in tennis, she replied "To become the No. 1 magic player in the world."[14] Her Serbian tennis teacher introduced her to a Swiss businessman who agreed to hire a coach and pay for Ivanović's training in Switzerland.[15]

Her father, Miroslav, and brother, Miros, watch some of Ana's matches on television, but her mother, Dragana, goes to all of them.[11] Ivanović and her mother, who Ivanović describes as her "best friend,"[16] live in Basel, Switzerland.[17] Her uncle lives in Australia where Ivanović is very popular. She is studying for a degree in finance at a Belgrade university, and is learning to speak Spanish.[18]

In 2007 she became an ambassador for the international charitable organization UNICEF, saying "I'm also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids".[19] Ivanović is also interested in fashion–she has modelled clothes and says "...I love to shop..."[13][20]

In September 2014, she began to date German professional footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger.[21][22] The couple married on 12 July 2016 in Venice [23] and has two sons.[24]

Playing style

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Ivanović's serve

Ivanović plays tennis holding her racket in her right hand. She also uses both hands on the racket when hitting her backhand shots.[25] She can hit her shots from the baseline (the back of the tennis court) but is also good at volleys.[26] Because she is very tall (6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)) she can serve the ball very fast. She hit a 124.9 mph (201.0 km/h) serve at the French Open in 2007, the fifth fastest serve of all time on the WTA Tour.[27] However, her serve has become unreliable, mostly because of problems with her toss of the ball. She also has a strong wrist which means she can hide what kind of serve she is going to use until the last moment.[28] She will often shout "Ajde!" ("Come on!" in Serbian) during her matches.[29]

Professional career

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Ivanović played in the junior version of Wimbledon in 2004. She lost the game to Ukrainian player Kateryna Bondarenko.[30] She became a professional tennis player in August 2003.[11] She finished the 2004 tennis season as one of the top 100 female players in the world.[17] In 2005, Ivanović won her first title in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). She won that game in Canberra, Australia. She beat Hungarian player Melinda Czink.[31] She finished 2005 in the world top 20.[17] She beat Martina Hingis from Switzerland at the Rogers Cup in Montreal in 2006.[32] She also won her only title in doubles competition with Maria Kirilenko in Holland.[33] Hingis got revenge for losing in Montreal by beating Ivanović in the final of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Japan, in February 2007.[34] Ivanović won her third WTA title by beating Russian player Svetlana Kuznetsova in the German Masters tournament in Berlin in May 2007.[35]

 
Ivanović at the Australian Open in 2008

She got to the final of her first Grand Slam tournament in 2007 in the French Open, but she lost to Justine Henin from Belgium.[36] She said that losing that match was her worst moment on a tennis court.[37] Ivanović ended that year as one of the ten best female players in the world.[17] In the following season, she got to the final of the Australian Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova.[38] After the final she was the second best female player in the world.[39] In March 2008, Ivanović beat Svetlana Kuznetsova again in another final at Indian Wells in California.[40]

She won the French Open in 2008 by beating Russian player Dinara Safina 2–0 in the final in Paris.[41] Her prize for winning was a trophy and €1 million.[42] She was the best female tennis player in the world after winning that trophy.[43] She was the first Serbian to be the world's top player.[44] After she won the tournament, she had a "welcome home" party in Belgrade and dinner with the President of Serbia.[20] In June 2008, Ivanović was expected to win the Wimbledon Championships, but lost in the third round.[45] Since then, she has failed to make it past the fourth round in any Major competition.

Ivanović has also played tennis for Serbia in an international competition called the Fed Cup. As of October 2011, she has played 20 matches and won 14 of them.[46]

Grand Slam record

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The following table shows how far Ivanović progressed in each of the Grand Slam tournaments she has played in.[17]

Year Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open
2005 Round 3 Quarter final Round 3 Round 2
2006 Round 2 Round 3 Round 4 Round 3
2007 Round 3 Runner-up Semi final Round 4
2008 Runner-up Winner Round 3 Round 2
2009 Round 3 Round 4 Round 4 Round 1
2010 Round 2 Round 2 Round 1 Round 4
2011 Round 1 Round 1 Round 3 Round 4
2012 Round 4 Round 3 Round 4 Quarter final
2013 Round 4 Round 4 Round 2 Round 4
2014 Quarter final Round 3 Round 3 Round 2
2015 Round 1 Semi final Round 2 Round 1
2016 Round 3 Round 3 Round 1 Round 1

Career earnings

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This table shows how much money Ivanović has been paid each year, and it also shows how much she was paid compared to all other female tennis players in the world.

Year Majors WTA wins Total wins Earnings (US$) Money list rank
2003 0 0 0 2,630 Archived 2018-12-15 at the Wayback Machine 732
2004 0 0 0 58,010 Archived 2018-12-15 at the Wayback Machine 166
2005 0 1 1 472,547 Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine 29
2006 0 1 1 671,616[permanent dead link] 20
2007 0 3 3 1,960,354[permanent dead link] 4
2008 1 2 3 3,119,640[permanent dead link] 4
2009 0 0 0 914,725 Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine 16
2010 0 2 2 774,025 Archived 2016-08-09 at the Wayback Machine 24
2011[47] 0 0 0 533,975[permanent dead link] 48
Career 1 9 10 8,507,522 29

Ivanović is also sponsored by sportswear company Adidas and racket manufacturer company Yonex.[17][48] She and Maria Sharapova were in a television advertisement to increase interest in women's tennis.[49] In April 2008, her official website was visited over 40 million times, more than any other female athlete.[37]

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References

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  1. ↑ "Fed Cup results for Serbia and Montenegro". Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  2. ↑ "2005 French Open seeds". Retrieved 24 May 2015.
  3. ↑ Thompson, Phil (31 March 2017). "Bastian Schweinsteiger, Ana Ivanovic get a crash course on Chicago". Chicago Tribune. Archived from the original on 15 August 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2017.
  4. ↑ "WTA profile". Wtatennis.com. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  5. ↑ "Bio on Official Website". Anaivanovic.com. Archived from the original on 3 June 2012. Retrieved 4 June 2012.
  6. ↑ "WTA Singles Rankings". Women's Tennis Association. Retrieved 26 April 2016.
  7. ↑ Tandon, Kamakshi (22 August 2012). "ESPN". ESPN. ESPN. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  8. ↑ "Ana Ivanovic visits Belgrade and the Developmental Counselling Unit in Zemun". www.unicef.org. Retrieved 13 March 2024.
  9. ↑ Reuters (28 December 2016). "Ana Ivanovic announces retirement from tennis at age of 29". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 September 2017. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  10. ↑ CNN, Matthew Knight. "Ana Ivanovic announces retirement from pro tennis". CNN. Retrieved 18 September 2017. {{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 "Ana Ivanovic – the fastest mover in the world" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 July 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  12. ↑ Tim Adams (September 2007). "Courtly behavior". Men's Vogue. Archived from the original on 18 June 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Arash Markazi (22 September 2007). "The next 'it' girl". Sports Illustrated. Archived from the original on 17 April 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  14. ↑ Clive White (8 June 2008). "French Open: Fearless Ana Ivanovic lives dream after beating Dinara Safina". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 8 July 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  15. ↑ Sean Gregory (19 June 2008). "Ana Ivanovic: Tennis's Next Megastar". Time Magazine. Archived from the original on 6 April 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  16. ↑ David Jones (2 June 2008). "The truth about the Wimbledon bombshell: Is tennis star Ana Ivanovic's rags to riches story all it seems?". Daily Mail. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 "Ana Ivanovic". Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  18. ↑ Paul Newman (25 January 2008). "Ivanovic grows into role of Australia's adopted daughter". The Independent. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  19. ↑ "Ana, Jelena Become UNICEF Ambassadors". Women's Tennis Association. 8 September 2007. Archived from the original on 11 September 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Mark Hodgkinson (14 June 2008). "Wimbledon build-up: Playtime for Ana Ivanovic". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  21. ↑ Corpuz, Rachelle (12 September 2014). "Bastian Schweinsteiger Spotted Holding Hands With Ana Ivanovic During A Stroll In NYC". au.ibtimes.com. Archived from the original on 20 December 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2014.
  22. ↑ "Schweinsteiger und Ivanovic jetzt offiziell ein Paar" (in German). Die Welt. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  23. ↑ http://www.focus.de/
  24. ↑ Bastian Schweinsteiger und Ana Ivanovic: "Willkommen auf der Welt, unser Kleiner"
  25. ↑ Tracy Austin (23 June 2008). "Ivanovic has taste for victory and can win". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  26. ↑ Simon Barnes (23 June 2008). "Ana Ivanovic has the aura of a champion". The Times. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  27. ↑ "IDS Serve Speed Leaders". sonyericssonwtatour.com. Archived from the original on 25 March 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2009.
  28. ↑ Peter Bodo (1 June 2008). "When Ana Ivanovic Serves, You Better Duck". New York Times. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  29. ↑ Chuck Culpepper (8 June 2008). "Ana Ivanovic is at her best in winning French Open title". LA Times. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  30. ↑ "'My goal is top ten at the end of this year'". rediff.com. 26 June 2006. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  31. ↑ "Ivanovic seals Canberra victory". BBC. 15 January 2005. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  32. ↑ "Rogers Cup – Players – Ana Ivanovic". www.rogerscup.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  33. ↑ "Ana Ivanovic". Women's Tennis Association. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  34. ↑ "Hingis sees off Ivanovic in Tokyo". BBC Sport. 4 February 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  35. ↑ "Ivanovic triumphs at German Open". BBC Sport. 13 May 2007. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  36. ↑ Clive White (10 June 2007). "Henin eases past nervy Ivanovic". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 25 June 2008.[dead link]
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 Ronald Atkin (25 May 2008). "Ana Ivanovic: Statuesque Serb who dodged Belgrade bombs says there will be no repeat of Paris meltdown". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 June 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  38. ↑ Piers Newbery (26 January 2008). "Sharapova wins Aussie Open title". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  39. ↑ "Ana Ivanovic's Australian Open Blog". Women's Tennis Association. 26 January 2008. Archived from the original on 29 May 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  40. ↑ Mark Lamport-Stokes (23 March 2008). "Ivanonic beats Kuznetsova in Indian Wells final". Reuters. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  41. ↑ "Ivanovic clinches maiden Grand Slam in Paris". CNN. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  42. ↑ Barry Flatman (8 June 2008). "Ana Ivanovic seizes her moment". The Times. Retrieved 26 June 2008.[dead link]
  43. ↑ "French Open". BBC Sport. 7 June 2008. Retrieved 25 June 2008.
  44. ↑ "Many faces of Ana". rediff.com. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  45. ↑ Chris Bevan (27 June 2008). "Wimbledon 2008". Retrieved 28 June 2008.
  46. ↑ "Player Profile – Ana Ivanovic". FedCup.com. Archived from the original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  47. ↑ As of 10 October 2011
  48. ↑ "Advisory Staff – Ana Ivanovic". Yonex. Archived from the original on 1 July 2008. Retrieved 26 June 2008.
  49. ↑ Mark Sweney (19 June 2008). "Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic star in WTA tennis ad". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 June 2008.

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