While a lot of youngsters are breaking through finding their way to the top, there’s one lady who has already been there and who’s joining their ride . But she’s not a youngster. We’re talking about the former world number one: Ana Ivanovic. After she won Roland Garros in 2008 and climbed to the number one position, a difficult time started for the sympathetic Serbian. After her victory in Birmingham on June 15, she spoke candidly about that period. To the question if she had left that time behind her, she replied that she will always take it with her a little bit. It’ s clear that Ana learned from that experience. On the question what advise she would have given her self in 2008 she answered: ‘I would have advised myself to be more relaxed. To reach the top one absolutely has to be dedicated to the sport, but it’s not forbidden to enjoy other things in live. I had no friends, no time for my family, because there was nothing else but tennis. I think I was overtrained in that time and emotional. And again, it requires a lot of hard working to be a top tennis player, but there must be a certain balance between tennis and other important and joyful things in live. I have won this tournament and tonight I’m going to enjoy a wonderful diner. That is what I mean: to have more fun and to allow yourself to enjoy the nice things in live. I want to be a more relaxed and cheerful tennis player now than I was at that time. And I know that I’m still able to win a grand slam. I’m not saying I’m going to, but it’s not impossible.’ And there’s that heart melting smile again. The results of the current number 11 of the world this year prove that she’s right. She has already won three tournaments this year (Auckland, Monterrey and Birmingham) and defeated among others Maria Sharapova, Samantha Stosur and Serena Williams (twice). No grand slam title yet, but she reached the quarterfinals in the Australian Open and the third round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Ana is back on track to top and has every reason to smile.
The photographs were made during the finals at Birmingham were Ana defeated Borbora Zaklavova Strycova
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