A downhill journey for Ana Ivanovic

From the heights she had reached in 2007 and 2008, to the near-anonymity of 2009, the scales tilted dramatically for Ana Ivanovic.

The Serb, with supermodel looks and immense fan following, was hailed as the next big thing in women’s tennis after she reached the French Open final in 2007, losing to Justine Henin. Ivanovic was an immediate sensation: her looks, and her all-court game made her a star in the same league as Maria Sharapova, and earlier, Anna Kournikova. The leggy beauty seemed on course to fulfil all the hype the following year when she reached the Australian Open final and then won her first (and only) Grand Slam — the French Open — whipping Dinara Safina.

Just as her star was in the ascendant with her rise to No.1, her fortunes plummeted. She crashed out in the second round of the US Open, and over the next year, had no titles to show. Her record at the Slams in 2009 was average – two fourth round performances (French Open and Wimbledon), a third round (Australian) and worst of all – a first round exit at the US Open.

If the first half of the year was average, the second was a nightmare for her. She suffered a thigh injury at Wimbledon, and form there she went downhill –
suffering first round losses at the US Open and the Pan Pacific Open at Tokyo. After a respiratory problem nixed her China Open campaign, she called a halt to the season, ending the year at a below-par No. 21.

Can the Serb recover the territory she lost? Women’s tennis is replete with examples of great comebacks – the latest being that of Kim Clijsters – and it’s unlikely that Ivanovic will be out of the spotlight for long.  Injuries and other health issues caused much of the damage in 2009, but her service action too has developed problems.

Former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash analysed that she would do well to hire a good bio-mechanist rather than seek the opinion of her current entourage who do not really understand the demands of top-level tennis.

Ivanovic now stands at the crossroads. If she is able to solve her service action and her injury problems, she should be back in the top-10. Conversely, a few more months of bad form could see her bump into the hinterlands of women’s tennis, like Jelena Dokic and several others, who promised so much and yet failed to achieve any lasting success at the highest levels of the game.

Ivanovic this year

Lost in QF at Brisbane
Lost in 3R at Australian Open
Lost in QF at Dubai
Lost in the final at Indian Wells,
Lost in 3R at Miami
Lost in 3R at Rome
Withdrew from Madrid with an injury
Lost in 4R at Roland Garros to Victoria Azarenka
Lost in 1R at Eastbourne
Retires in 4R at Wimbledon
Lost in 3R at Los Angeles
Lost in 2R at Cincinnati
Lost in 2R at Toronto to qualifier
Lost in 1R at US Open
Lost in 1R at Tokyo
Withdrew from Beijing
1 The Serb has won 24 and lost 14 matches this year.
2 Reached only one final — losing to Vera Zvonareva at Indian Wells
3 Her runs to the round of 16 at the French Open and Wimbledon were her best at the majors this year.

“I think she was in a lot of pain. You know me — I’m one of those players, I just only pay attention to what’s going on my side of the net. But today, I felt really sad for her actually. She was really upset”
—Serena Williams, after Ana Ivanovic withdrew in Wimbledon

Others flop stars…

Robinho: The Brazilian’s frustrating run in England continued. Injury and inability to score consistently hampered his stay at Manchester City. With Roberto Mancini wanting him to play a bigger role, 2010 will be a year of reckoning for Robinho

Tyson Gay: He made lofty claims that he would not only beat Usain Bolt but also make the 100m record his own. However, Gay could not even get near the world’s fastest man

Kimi Raikkonen: With just one win to his name, this has been a year he would like to forget. At the end of the season, Ferrari announced that Raikkonen would be leaving the team. The Finn decided to take one-year break from the sport

Andy Murray: Despite starting the new year by beating Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal at an exhibition tournament in Abu Dhabi, the Brit failed to live up to the expectations. A frustrating US Open meant he ended the year as world No.3

Padraig Harrington: The man who shattered the glass ceiling that had frosted over European golf for far too long had a quiet 2009. Though he was a consistent performer in the second half of the year, he failed to live up to the expectations.