Dubai: The tennis world reacted in shock when Serbian world No. 6 Ana Ivanovic was bundled out in the first round of the season’s first Grand Slam by a qualifier last month.
It’s not that the 27-year-old hadn’t suffered such mishaps before in her up-and-down career, but the fact that she had just climbed into the top five on the back of four titles and had made the Brisbane finals at the start of the year, is what caught many, who had given the Serb a definite chance to get to the second week in Melbourne, by surprise.
As it turned out, she had played against Lucie Hradecka with a broken toe, which she suffered prior to the Australian Open, and she told Gulf News in an interview ahead of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships, which begin next week, that flying around the world playing in the debut edition of the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) did eat into her preparation.
“A little bit. The WTA off-season is nice and long though. This season we actually had 10 weeks between Singapore and my first tournament of the year, in Brisbane. So there was plenty of time to rest and recover, and also play exhibitions,” she said.
“There are always upsides and downsides to your schedule decisions. The IPTL season was intense, with a lot of travelling. But it was very rewarding too, and I learnt a lot. Overall it was an amazing experience.”
Ivanovic was understandably disappointed at having bowed out of the Australian Open early, having made the quarters last year, and she believes she needs to try something different to make more headway in the Slams.
“With it [Australian Open] being such a big event, and because I was in good form coming into the tournament, I did have a bit more expectation. But unfortunately things hadn’t gone so well in the week leading up to the tournament. I broke my toe and wasn’t able to practice as much as I’d planned,” she said.
“I felt quite stressed and these things combined meant that I wasn’t able to play my best tennis. But my opponent, Lucie Hradecka, played a great match and she deserved to win. I haven’t had very good results in the Grand Slams lately so I need to work on my approach. Maybe I should try something different, so I can relax more when I’m playing these big events.”
The early defeat, however, has only spurred the 2008 French Open champion to work harder in the upcoming tournaments.
“For sure, I can’t wait to get back on the court. The season is still very young and there is a lot to play for. I am looking forward, not back,” she said
And, having skipped the Fed Cup to recover, the former world No. 1 said she can’t wait to get to Dubai, where she did some of her pre-season training at the end of last season.
“It would be amazing [to win in Dubai]. I’ve always enjoyed visiting Dubai, I’ve played the tournament many times, and I’ve also chosen to train there a few times during the off-season. Last off-season I stayed at Atlantis for a week and had a great time. The facilities in Dubai are amazing and I feel very comfortable here,” the Dubai Duty Free Global Ambassador said.
