A New Dawn for Ana?

Ana Ivanovic might have lost to Kim Clijsters, but this US Open has given Ivanovic fans reason to be optimistic.

In 2008, Ivanovic was on top of the world. Having already reached two grand slam finals before the age of 20 as well as the world number one ranking, a major title seemed inevitable. Along with Novak Djokovic and Jelena Jankovic, Ivanovic led the charge of Serbian tennis players into the spotlight, a spotlight which became all the brighter when Djokovic won the 2008 Australian Open title.

The 2008 French Open saw Ivanovic storm her way into the final where she claimed her first major championship. The dominance of Serbia’s trio of champions was unstoppable – or so it seemed. Then, following an early exit from Wimbledon a few weeks later, Ivanovic began her rapid descent from the top of women’s tennis. Yes, she still held the top ranking going into that year’s US Open but she was hardly considered a favorite. After losing in the second round she continued her downhill spiral. Her 2009 season also didn’t go as planned and she finished outside the top 20 and won no titles.

At first 2010 seemed a continuation of Ivanovic’s troubles. Following a second round loss at the Australian Open, Ivanovic went to lose her next four matches before making it to the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami. During this time, Ivanovic had fallen out of the top 50 and was slowly beginning to be forgotten about in the game.  Her summer continued with a few early round exists until the WTA Tour event in Cincinnati, where she made it all the way to the semifinals before retiring in her match with Kim Clijsters due to a foot injury.

The injury aside, the performances were impressive and she took that form into the US Open a few weeks’ later. After three convincing two-set wins she set up a showdown with Clijsters, the defending champion Clijsters.. A win here would have taken her into the top 20. Clijsters proved too strong on the day (see Alix Ramsay’s piece on Clijsters) but that top 20 spot can’t be too far out of reach for Ivanovic.

It’s hard to believe that at just 22 years of age Ivanovic’s career has been full of so many highs and lows. Yet still she is out there working hard to reclaim the the kind of spotlight that used to and should be on her. Only time will tell if she has the ability and desire to return to the top of the game or just fade away and be remembered as just another pretty face.

Topics: Alix, Ana Ivanovic, Australian Open, Australian Open Title, Defending Champion, Dominance, Early Exit, Foot Injury, French Open, Grand Slam Finals, Ivanovic Ana, Jelena Jankovic, Kim Clijsters, New Dawn, Novak Djokovic, Ramsay, Rapid Descent, Serbian, Sony Ericsson Open, Tennis Players, Top Of The World, Wimbledon, Wta Tour

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