Ivanovic's breakthrough came at the 2004 Zurich Open, where she qualified and was narrowly beaten byVenus Williams in the second round in two tiebreak sets. By the age of 18, Ivanovic had already defeated established players such asSvetlana Kuznetsova,Nadia Petrova,Vera Zvonareva andAmélie Mauresmo. Ivanovic's struggles after winning the 2008 French Open were well documented.[12] After that victory, she was overwhelmed by attention,[13] and was unable to repeat her French Open success, failing to reach a major quarterfinal in her subsequent 17 appearances, and dropping as low as No. 65 in the rankings in July 2010.[14][15] In 2012, Ivanovic reached her first major quarterfinal since her French Open title at the2012 US Open, thereby achieving the feat of reaching the quarterfinals at all four majors, and finished with a year-end top 15 ranking for the first time since 2008. In 2014, Ivanovic enjoyed a resurgence, beginning with her victory in theAuckland Open, her first singles title in over two years, before going on to win theMonterrey Open,Aegon Classic and thePan Pacific Open. She qualified for competition in theWTA Tour Championships and secured a year-end ranking of No. 5, signifying her return to the world's elite.[16] In 2015, Ivanovic made it to the semifinals of a major for the first time in seven years at theFrench Open. In late December 2016, she announced her retirement, citing being no longer able to perform to a high standard as a major factor.[17]
Ivanovic was known for her aggressive style of play and impressive forehand, described by Nadia Petrova as "the best out there."[18] She earned over $15.5 million in prize money, which is the 25th-highest in the all-time rankings. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" byTime[19] and was also included on the list of "Top 100 Greatest Players Ever" (male and female combined) by reporter Matthew Cronin.[20]
Ivanovic (Ана Ивановић /Ana Ivanović,[21][22]pronounced[ânaǐʋanoʋitɕ,ǎː-]ⓘ) was born inBelgrade,SFR Yugoslavia. Her mother, Dragana, a lawyer, has been court-side during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attended as many events as he possibly could. Ivanovic has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loved to play basketball.[23]
Ivanovic began playing tennis at the age of five after watchingMonica Seles, a fellowYugoslav, on television.[4] She started her career after memorizing the telephone number of a local tennis clinic from an advertisement. During theNATO bombing of Yugoslavia, she was forced to train during the morning to avoid bombardments. She trained in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as no tennis facilities were available. At 13 she moved toBasel, Switzerland due to the better training facilities and coaching available.[24] Manager Dan Holzmann was living in Basel, and Ana and her mother moved to Switzerland when she signed an agreement with the Swiss entrepreneur.[25]
When she was 15, Ivanovic spent four hours in a locker room crying after a defeat – the first that her new manager had witnessed. She thought that Dan Holzmann would abandon her, thinking she wouldn't be good enough to become a professional tennis player. However, he remained her manager throughout her career.[26]
Ivanovic reached the final of theJunior Wimbledon tournament, losing toKateryna Bondarenko.[27] In 2004, she went 26–0 on theITF Women's Circuit, and won all five events that she entered, two of them as a qualifier. As a qualifier in Zurich, she overcame a 5–1 third-set deficit along with two match points to defeat world No. 29Tatiana Golovin. She then debuted in the qualifying draw of a major at theUS Open, where she was defeated byLioudmila Skavronskaia after winning the first set 6–1 and having two match points in the third set. Her first notable breakthrough occurred in the next tournament, when she tookVenus Williams to two tiebreaks, before losing in straight sets in the second round of theZurich Open. She had held several set points in both sets. She followed up her run in Zurich with a quarterfinal showing atLuxembourg the next week.[28]
Ivanovic won her first career singles title early in the year at theCanberra International, after defeatingMelinda Czink in the final. Her ranking continued to rise after wins overSvetlana Kuznetsova in Miami,Nadia Petrova also in Miami, andVera Zvonareva in Warsaw, all of whom were top-10 players. Ivanovic lost toAmélie Mauresmo at theAustralian Open in the third round, atDoha in the third round after holding a 6–2, 2–0 lead, and at theMiami Masters in the quarterfinals. However, Ivanovic's biggest win to date then came over Mauresmo in the third round of theFrench Open.[29] She advanced to the quarterfinals of only her second Grand Slam tournament by defeatingFrancesca Schiavone in the fourth round.[30] Later in the year, Ivanovic reached the semifinals of the Zurich Open andGenerali Ladies Linz, losing toPatty Schnyder in both tournaments. She finished the year ranked No. 16.
Ivanovic started the season at theHopman Cup inPerth, Western Australia with fellow SerbianNovak Djokovic, where the pair narrowly missed the final.[31] To start off herWTA year, she played at theMedibank International in Sydney where she once again defeated Amélie Mauresmo, this time in straight sets, before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. A week later, she lost toSamantha Stosur in the second round of theAustralian Open.[32]
Ivanovic made it to the third round of theFrench Open, before losing toAnastasia Myskina. She progressed to the fourth round atWimbledon, but lost to eventual champion and world No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo, in straight sets after beating No. 14 seed,Dinara Safina.[33][34]
Ivanovic also played nine tournaments in doubles in 2006, teaming up withMaria Kirilenko andSania Mirza. Ivanovic and Kirilenko made two semifinals and a final; they ended the year at No. 17 in the annual race to theChampionships. Ivanovic finished the year ranked world No. 14 in singles and No. 51 in doubles.
2007: First Grand Slam final and entering the top 10
Ivanovic started the season inGold Coast andSydney where she reached quarterfinals. Seeded 13th at theAustralian Open, Ivanovic defeatedAgnieszka Radwańska in the second round, but lost in the third round to Vera Zvonareva.[36] Immediately after this tournament, she announced that she had split with her coach David Taylor. She then played in theToray Pan Pacific Open. In the quarterfinals she beat No. 10 Janković, and in the semifinals the No. 1, when Maria Sharapova was forced to retire after Ivanovic had won the first set; but she lost in the final to Martina Hingis.
During the American hard-court season, Ivanovic lost in early rounds. But on clay, she first went on to semifinal of Amelia Island and then managed to win her first Tier-I clay-court title inBerlin, defeating No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final in three sets. Ivanovic needed a tiebreak to finally finish the match. The win in Berlin propelled her into the top ten of theWTA rankings for the first time, at world No. 8.[37]
Ivanovic had a six-match winning streak heading into theFrench Open and increased this streak to twelve by reaching the final. She won her first three matches with the loss of only nine games. In her second career quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Ivanovic defeated world No. 3 Kuznetsova, and she then beat world No. 2, Sharapova, in less than one hour in the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic attempted to win her firstmajor singles title and complete a sweep of the top three players in the world. However, world No. 1 and two-time defending championJustine Henin won the match in straight sets.
Ivanovic at the 2007 Luxembourg Championships
AtWimbledon, Ivanovic defeated world No. 9 Nadia Petrova in the fourth round, and saved three match points to defeatNicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, three-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams defeated Ivanovic in two sets after Ivanovic had a break in the second set.[38]
A persistent knee injury sustained at Wimbledon caused Ivanovic to withdraw fromSerbian Fed Cup competition againstSlovakia and two lead-up events to theUS Open.[39] She returned to the tour at theEast West Bank Classic inCarson, California, saving two match points in the semifinals with huge winner before defeating No. 3 Janković in three sets. In the final, Ivanovic defeated top-10 player Petrova to win the fourth singles title of her career, which raised her ranking to a career-high of world No. 4.[40]
In Ivanovic's first three matches at theUS Open, she lost only ten games. Venus Williams then eliminated her for the second consecutive time at a major.
Ivanovic returned to Europe for three tournaments. At the Tier IILuxembourg Championships, Ivanovic qualified for theTour Championships by virtue of reaching the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic rallied from 3–6, 0–3 down to defeatDaniela Hantuchová, her third title of the season.[41] It was her fifth career title. In the quarterfinals and semifinals she beatTatiana Golovin and Vera Zvonareva.
To end the year, Ivanovic played in the Sony Ericsson Championships inMadrid. Seeded 4th and assigned to the Red Group during the round-robin phase, she defeated world No. 2 Kuznetsova and then Hantuchová in straight sets. She qualified for the semifinals but Sharapova defeated Ivanovic in the final match of the round-robin stage. Because she finished second in her group, Ivanovic played world No. 1 Henin in the semifinals, in which the Belgian won in two sets.
Ivanovic finished the year with a career-high ranking of world No. 4.
Ivanovic started the year at theMedibank International, where she made the quarterfinals, eventually losing to world No. 1, Justine Henin, despite having had break points in the third set. As the fourth seed at theAustralian Open, Ivanovic made it all the way to the finals, beating top-10 players Venus Williams for the first time in her career, and coming back from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit against Daniela Hantuchová. She was given thenickname "Aussie Ana" during the on-court interview withTodd Woodbridge following the victory over Williams.[42] Ivanovic fell against Sharapova in a tight match in the final where Ivanovic had 0–30 at 5–4 in first set. Her ranking rose to world No. 3, the highest of her career at the time.
In Serbia's Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I D round-robin tie againstPoland,Romania and Netherlands Ivanovic won all of her matches, as Serbia advanced to theWorld Group II playoffs in April. And soon Serbia qualified for World Group II, after beating neighboring countryCroatia.
In March, Ivanovic defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of theTier IPacific Life Open inIndian Wells before wins over top-15 players Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, and world No. 4 Jelena Janković, in the semifinals. She lost toLindsay Davenport in the third round of theSony Ericsson Open in Miami the following week in straight sets.
Ivanovic started her clay-court season as defending champion at theQatar Telecom German Open in Berlin where she lost toElena Dementieva for the fourth time in four meetings in the semifinals. In Rome she lost to qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova, but it couldn't demoralize Ivanovic, as she defeatedPetra Cetkovská 6–0, 6–0 in the fourth round, No. 10 Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals, and No. 3 Jelena Janković in a thrilling encounter in the semifinals ofFrench Open. She went on to defeat Dinara Safina in straight sets in the final, winning her first and onlymajor singles title.
AtWimbledon, Ivanovic saved match points againstNathalie Dechy, but fell against unseeded wildcardZheng Jie of China in straight sets in the third round.
Ivanovic started the summer hard-court season with a third-round loss at theRogers Cup inMontreal toTamira Paszek. Ivanovic, bothered by a sore thumb sustained during practice two weeks before Montreal,[43] withdrew from theEast West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Her withdrawal saw her lose the world No. 1 ranking to Janković. The thumb injury also caused her to withdraw from theSummer Olympics in Beijing, which Ivanovic described as "one of the worst moments of her career."[44] Ivanovic, having reclaimed her world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, was the top-seeded player at theUS Open,[45] but lost to qualifierJulie Coin in second round. The loss was the earliest defeat of the top-seeded player at the US Open since the1973 tournament.[46]
In her first match after the US Open, at the Tier IToray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic was defeated by Nadia Petrova in three sets, bringing her win–loss record since the French Open to 4–4. Ivanovic later told the press that she was "just happy to be back injury-free" and that she needed to "play more matches get back into rhythm."[47] Ivanovic then played in Beijing, and after two great results, she lost to Zheng Jie in three sets despite winning 16 more points than her opponent.
Then she came back to Europe to play three more tournaments, first in Moscow where she lost toDominika Cibulková after having two match points. In the Zurich Open, she lost in the semifinals to Venus Williams after leading 3–1 in the third set. Ivanovic played inLinz and won the tournament as a top-seed by crushing top-10 players Agnieszka Radwańska and Vera Zvonareva in the final.
At the year-endSony Ericsson Championships inDoha, Qatar, Ivanovic was seeded 4th. In her first round-robin match, she was defeated by world No. 1 Janković after she won the best point of the year.[citation needed] Her next match was against Zvonareva, to whom she also lost in three exciting sets. She withdrew from her final match against Kuznetsova because of a virus.[48]
At theAustralian Open, Ivanovic was seeded fifth and won her first two matches in straight sets before losing to 29th seed RussianAlisa Kleybanova in the third round.
At theBNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she was defending champion, Ivanovic advanced to the finals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva. InMiami, Ivanovic lost in the third round toÁgnes Szávay. In April, she took part in Serbia'sFed Cup World Group play-offs againstSpain. She defeatedAnabel Medina Garrigues to help Serbia gain promotion to the World Group with a 4–0 win.
At theFrench Open, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets, before losing toVictoria Azarenka in the fourth round. This early loss caused Ivanovic to fall out of the top ten for the first time since May 2007. After the loss, Ivanovic announced that she would cease working with Craig Kardon,[51] and would be participating in the adidas Player Development Program, where she would be coached by Sven Groeneveld,Darren Cahill, Mats Merkel andGil Reyes.[52][53][54]
AtWimbledon, Ivanovic was seeded 13th. She faced two match points againstLucie Hradecká, before prevailing. She then took downSara Errani and 18th seed Samantha Stosur in the second and third rounds in straight sets, before retiring against eventual finalist Venus Williams.
At theUS Open, Ivanovic lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career by succumbing to Kateryna Bondarenko. After the match, former Wimbledon championPat Cash criticized Ivanovic's new service motion, stating that watching it was a "painful experience" and that it "weakened her threat." He also felt that Ivanovic was "over-analysing" her game and that her main problem was "her lack of confidence."[56]
At the Premier 5Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic suffered her third successive defeat by losing to Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Citing anupper respiratory tract infection, Ivanovic pulled out of theChina Open and announced on her website that she was taking the rest of the year off.
She finished the year with a 24–14 match record, her worst since she turned pro, and did not win any titles. Ivanovic only reached three quarterfinals, one semifinal, and one final, and only won back-to-back matches six times. Ivanovic ended the year ranked 22, the first time she had been ranked outside the top 20 since July 2005.
Ivanovic started the year inBrisbane. Seeded third, Ivanovic reached her first semifinal sinceIndian Wells in 2009. She eventually bowed out to wildcard Justine Henin in Henin's first tournament since her return from retirement. Ivanovic was seeded 20th at theAustralian Open, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round in three sets.She then participated in the opening round of theFed Cup in Serbia's tie against Russia, and she went 0–2 in her singles matches and also lost doubles match.
Ivanovic announced that she would be working withSteffi Graf's former coachHeinz Günthardt on a trial basis during the spring North American hard-court season, suspending her relationship with the Adidas Player Development Program indefinitely. In her first match as Gunthardt's pupil, a one-set semifinal against reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the 2010Billie Jean King Cup atMadison Square Garden, Ivanovic lost in a tiebreak, despite having held match point. After the match, Ivanovic stated that she had noted improvements in her game.
Despite her improvements, Ivanovic lost her opening match inIndian Wells, suffering four consecutive losses for the first time. By also losing a huge number of ranking points, Ivanovic dropped out of the top 50 for the first time since March 2005. Seeded 25th inMiami, Ivanovic won her first match since the Australian Open, but then lost to Radwańska in the third round.
Ivanovic lost again to Radwańska at thePorsche Tennis Grand Prix. But unseeded inRome, Ivanovic had her best week of tennis in nearly two years. She stunned top-10 players Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, and top-20 player Nadia Petrova, all in straight sets, before losing to eventual championMaría José Martínez Sánchez in the semifinals. She was granted a wildcard into theMadrid Open, and received a bye in the first round due to her semifinal appearance at the Italian Open. She was the first unseeded wildcard to receive a first-round bye in the history of the WTA Tour. She lost in the second round to Jelena Janković, despite leading by a set and a break. Ivanovic entered theFrench Open unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2005. She fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.
In theUNICEF Open, Ivanovic fell to seventh-seeded GermanAndrea Petkovic in the second round. Ivanovic was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by 13th seedShahar Pe'er, and as a consequence saw her ranking drop to world No. 64.
In the opening round of theStanford, Ivanovic avenged her 2009 Australian Open and 2010 French Open defeats by beating Alisa Kleybanova, before losing in the next round toMarion Bartoli in straight sets. InCincinnati, she rallied from a set and a break down to beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets. Ivanovic retired against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals due to a foot injury. Her ranking dramatically improved to world No. 39. The injury caused her to withdraw from New Haven. Unseeded at theUS Open, Ivanovic breezed into the fourth round with straight-set victories, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters.
Ivanovic lost her opener toVera Dushevina inSeoul as the 7th seed. Ivanovic then defeated Kleybanova, the Korea Open champion, in the first round ofTokyo, before again losing to Bartoli in straight sets. Ivanovic avenged her losses to Bartoli at theChina Open, beating the Frenchwoman in straight sets. On her way to the quarterfinals, Ivanovic scored top-10 victory by defeating Elena Dementieva for the second time in 2010. Ivanovic fell to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki.
Entering theLinz Open as a wildcard, Ivanovic defeated Patty Schnyder in the finals in straight sets, in just 47 minutes of play. Ivanovic headed to theBGL Luxembourg Open as the 4th seed, where she reached the quarterfinals, before falling to 8th seed Julia Görges.
Ivanovic revealed that she had ended her coaching relationship with Swiss star Heinz Günthardt, because Gunthardt did not want to travel full-time[57] and mixed his interest in tennis with being a Swiss television commentator.[58]
By virtue of her title in Linz, Ivanovic qualified for the last tournament of the season, theTournament of Champions. She made it to the finals, where she defeated Kleybanova for her tenth career title and her second of the year. She won ten of her last thirteen matches. With her title in Bali, Ivanovic achieved a year-end ranking of No. 17, her fifth finish in the top 20.
Ivanovic started the year with theHopman Cup inPerth, Western Australia. She competed along with Novak Djokovic and they qualified for the final, but due to an injury sustained during Ivanovic's match against Justine Henin, Serbia was forced to withdraw. Along with the Hopman Cup, Ivanovic also withdrew from Sydney. Seeded 19th at theAustralian Open she lost toEkaterina Makarova in the first round in 2 hours and 47 minutes.
Ivanovic then played in thePTT Pattaya Open, where she fell in the quarterfinals to 5th seedRoberta Vinci in straight sets. InDubai she lost against Patty Schnyder in their last professional match for many years. She stated the loss was in part because of the abdominal injury sustained in the beginning of the season, and she subsequently withdrew fromDoha.
In fourth round ofIndian Wells Ivanovic beat Jelena Janković, but lost to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. She then played inMiami and lost against defending champion Kim Clijsters in fourth round, despite having a 5–1, 40–0 lead in the third set and having five match points.
Ivanovic joinedSerbia in the2011 Fed Cup event. Ivanovic scored a point for Serbia by beating Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets but had to retire in her next match against Dominika Cibulková, as she renewed an injury from the beginning of the season. Despite that, Serbia beat Slovakia in the deciding doubles rubber, 3–2.[citation needed]
Ivanovic lost toBethanie Mattek-Sands in first round of Madrid, after winning first set with bagel. Ivanovic headed toRome and was up nine games to love after Nadia Petrova retired. Ivanovic lost in next round to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. Ivanovic again lost after first set at love, toJohanna Larsson in first round at theFrench Open. Ivanovic had a slight resurgence inBirmingham, reaching the semifinals, but lost to Hantuchová in three sets. Ivanovic lost to Venus Williams in the second round atEastbourne.
Ivanovic at the 2011 Mercury Insurance Open
Seeded 18th atWimbledon, Ivanovic brushed asideMelanie Oudin andEleni Daniilidou before falling to Petra Cetkovská. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic hiredNigel Sears, the head of women's tennis at theLawn Tennis Association, as her coach.[59] InStanford, Ivanovic fell against Japan'sAyumi Morita in her opening match. Seeded 5th inCarlsbad, she avenged the previous week's loss by beating Ayumi Morita in straight sets despite trailing 0–5 in the second set. Ivanovic then cruised into semifinals. She eventually fell against top seed Vera Zvonareva in three sets. In Toronto and Cincinnati she won a total of three matches but against qualifiers. Seeded 16th at theUS Open, she defeatedKsenia Pervak, received a walkover from Petra Cetkovská and beatSloane Stephens in straight sets before falling to eventual finalist Serena Williams. She also played alongside fellow countrymanNenad Zimonjić in the mixed-doubles competition for the first time, but fell againstMariusz Fyrstenberg andChan Yung-jan in two sets.
DuringTokyo Ivanovic recorded victories in straight sets overAnastasia Rodionova and wildcardLaura Robson, before losing to Maria Kirilenko. At theChina Open Ivanovic beatKimiko Date-Krumm, Svetlana Kuznetsova and world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, losing total of ten games. But she then retired in second set against Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals due to a back injury.
Ivanovic received a wild card to play theTournament of Champions, which she defended, beating Roberta Vinci, Nadia Petrova and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final, capturing her 11th WTA title. It was the first time she had ever defended her title in a tournament.
Ivanovic began her season inBrisbane where she was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Kim Clijsters in three sets, despite leading 3–0 in the final set. Ivanovic's next event was inSydney and she was sent out in the first round by Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Ivanovic then headed over to theAustralian Open where she reached the fourth round as a 21st seed. She beat three players outside the top 50, dropping no sets, but then met world No. 2,Petra Kvitová, and lost in two sets. She entered the top 20 of the world rankings after her run to the round of 16.
Ivanovic at the 2012 French Open
Ivanovic next played inDoha. She fell to Petra Cetkovská in straight sets in the second round. Ivanovic then went toDubai unseeded, where she upset Francesca Schiavone and beat Maria Kirilenko, before being defeated by 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Ivanovic went over toIndian Wells as the 15th seed. She was able to make a run all the way to the semifinals, posting victories over former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli, who were both in the top 8. She retired against Maria Sharapova after losing the first set. InMiami she beat Daniela Hantuchová before losing to Venus Williams in fourth round, despite holding a one set lead. Despite this defeat she still moved into the top 15 for the first time since 2009 and became Serbian No. 1 for the first time since 2008.
Ivanovic then headed to Moscow for theFed Cup semifinals, where after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tight sets, recovered, and beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to put Serbia ahead, 2–1. Fellow countrywoman Jelena Janković then closed out the tie for Serbia (3–2), sending the country into the Fed Cup finals for the first time in history.
Ivanovic resumedtour action inStuttgart, where she was beaten byMona Barthel in two tight sets. She then headed over to the newly blue-clayedMadrid where she breezed pastMathilde Johansson and Nadia Petrova, before falling in straight sets to world No. 1 Azarenka, despite leading 4–1 in the first set. InRome she avenged her Fed Cup loss against Kuznetsova, but fell to No. 2 Sharapova in straight sets, despite serving for the first set. Seeded 13th atRoland Garros, Ivanovic beatLara Arruabarrena Vecino and Shahar Pe'er, losing only six games over the course of the two matches. Despite continuing in style and winning the first of the match, she lost to eventual finalist Sara Errani in the third round.[60]
Seeded 14th atWimbledon, she worked for victories overMaría José Martínez Sánchez, Kateryna Bondarenko and 22nd seed Julia Görges to reach fourth round, her best result there since 2009. She then suffered a bad loss to 2nd seed Azarenka in the fourth round;[61] winning only one game. Despite the loss, her run caused her ranking to rise to No. 12 in the following week.
She made her Olympic debut at theSummer Olympics in London, participating in both theWomen's singles andMixed Doubles withNenad Zimonjić. Seeded 11th in singles, she defeatedChristina McHale and localElena Baltacha in straight sets, before losing for the sixth time to Kim Clijsters in third round. She teamed up with Zimonjić for the mixed doubles competition, where they lost against India'sMirza andPaes in the opening round.
At the 2012 Roger's Cup, Ivanovic was double bageled by Roberta Vinci in the second round. It didn't seem to affect Ivanovic at theUS Open as she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since winning the2008 French Open title, and her first quarterfinal in New York. Ivanovic defeated qualifierElina Svitolina andSofia Arvidsson in straight sets, came back from a set down to beat young AmericanSloane Stephens in the third round[62] followed byTsvetana Pironkova in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals Ivanovic was soundly defeated by eventual champion Serena Williams for the second year in a row.
Ivanovic then played inTokyo, losing toUrszula Radwańska in round two; she then competed at the China Open reaching the third round, losing toRomina Oprandi in straight sets. She came with a winning streak toLinz, having won there previously in 2008 and 2010, but her streak was finished in quarterfinals against qualifierKirsten Flipkens. Ivanovic headed over toMoscow and made it all the way to the semifinal, having had a bye in the first round then defeating two qualifiers in straight sets. She lost to Samantha Stosur in three sets, despite winning the first.
Ivanovic did not qualify to defend her title in Bali, and did not receive a wildcard-entry due to her participation at the2012 Fed Cup. Serbia took on the defending champions, Czech Republic. Ivanovic lost her first rubber against Lucie Šafářová, but won her second against Petra Kvitová. Which meant Jelena Janković had to win her rubber to take it to a tie, and go to a decider. Janković eventually lost her rubber against Lucie Šafářová. However, Ivanovic finished 2012 as the world No. 13, her best finish since 2008.
Ivanovic kicked off the year by playing at the Hopman Cup with Djokovic. In her first round-robin match, she beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone. She beat Ashleigh Barty and in her final round-robin match defeated Tatjana Malek to put Serbia into the final, having defeated Italy, Australia and Germany. While playing Spain, Djokovic gave Serbia a 1–0 tie lead but Anabel Medina Garrigues tied up the final at 1–1 after defeating Ivanovic in a closely fought singles match. Serbia then lost the deciding tie in mixed doubles.
At theAustralian Open, she successfully reached the fourth round of the tournament, progressing past Melinda Czink, Yung-Jan Chen and Jelena Janković. She eventually lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in two sets. Ivanovic played in Pattaya City as the No. 1 seed but lost in the first round toAyumi Morita. Ivanovic was then scheduled to play at theFed Cup but withdrew due to shoulder injuries. Ivanovic competed at theQatar Total Open as the 12th seed. She made a run to the third round, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska, despite breaking her in the 12th game and having the chance to serve out for the second set. She reached the second round of theDubai Tennis Championships, before losing narrowly to Petra Kvitová.
Ivanovic received a first round bye at theBNP Paribas Open. In her second round match, she defeated American teenagerTaylor Townsend losing just three games. In the third round, she lost in three sets to big-serving Mona Barthel from Germany. At the subsequent Premier Mandatory eventSony Open Tennis, Ivanovic exacted revenge on Urszula Radwańska by dishing out a two set drubbing and cruised past two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. However, Ivanovic lost to eighth seeded Errani in three sets in the fourth round. Ivanovic then took part in theMonterrey Open and was defeated in the second round by defending championTímea Babos from Hungary. This marked the first time since the 2008 US Open that Ivanovic had lost to an opponent ranked outside the top 100.
Despite a slow start to the 2013 season, Ivanovic made good progress in the clay season. Notably, she defeated upcoming players Mona Barthel (who she lost to at Indian Wells) and Laura Robson, as well as higher-seeded players Nadia Petrova at Stuttgart andAngelique Kerber twice at the Fed Cup week two playoffs and at the Mutua Madrid Open. As a result of Ivanovic's more consistent tennis in the clay season, she reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart despite not being seeded, and managed to reach the semifinals of the Premier Mandatory Madrid Open for the first time in her career. In both Stuttgart and Madrid, her runs were routed by 2012 French Open champion Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, after good runs at two clay-court tournaments, she dropped her opener in Rome against Urszula Radwańska. At the French Open she stormed past three opponents to the fourth round, only to fall in straight sets to Agnieszka Radwańska for the third time in the year.
In July, Sears and Ivanovic part ways and she hired Nemanja Kontic as her coach.[63] Ivanovic had a sub-par summer hard-court season, only managing to defeat one other seeded player. At Carlsbad, she defeatedRoberta Vinci before getting edged out by world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the semifinals. In Toronto, she made quick work ofHsieh Su-wei andFlavia Pennetta in straight sets, before losing toLi Na in three sets. Ivanovic was up 5–2 in the third set, but was unable to serve out the match and eventually lost when she sent a backhand long in the tiebreak. Ivanovic dropped her opener in Cincinnati toAlizé Cornet. At theUS Open, Ivanovic made it to the fourth round, narrowly scraping past American player Christina McHale in the third round by erasing two of her opponent's match points. Ivanovic made a whopping 51 unforced errors in her match against Christina McHale. In the fourth round, Ivanovic lost to Victoria Azarenka again in three sets. By winning the first set in her fourth round loss to Victoria Azarenka, Ivanovic won her first set against a top ten opponent at a major since she won the 2008 French Open, ending a streak of 15 consecutive sets lost against a top-ten seed.
Ivanovic then headed to Asia for the Premier events in Tokyo and Beijing after a two-week break. In the former, she routed young German Annika Beck before cruising past Elina Svitolina. In the third round, she lost to Anqelique Kerber for the first time. In the latter, she moved past Flavia Pennetta in two sets despite trailing 5–1 in the first set. She was then defeated surprisingly by Polona Hercog of Slovenia in straight sets. Ivanovic then headed to Linz and progressed to the final without dropping a set, beating Yanina Wickmayer, Francesca Schiavone, Dominika Cibulková and Stefanie Vögele before being edged out in the final by Kerber once more, despite having saved three match points and had four set points of her own to take the match into a decider. She then took part in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow as the fourth seed, receiving a bye in the first round before breezing pastKlára Koukalová for the loss of just four games. In the last eight, she was edged out by Samantha Stosur, who had also beaten her in the semifinals the year before.
At the Tournament of Champions, Ivanovic was allocated into the Sredets Group alongside Samantha Stosur, Elena Vesnina andTsvetana Pironkova. In her first round-robin match, Ivanovic captured a two-set victory over Pironkova. She then went on to defeat Stosur. She needed one more victory to come first in her group. However, Ivanovic lost to Vesnina for the second time this year despite leading 5–2 in third set and serving two times for the match. But despite losing, she still qualified for the semifinals by winning a set, therefore coming second in her group (after Stosur). In her semifinal match, she lost to eventual championSimona Halep despite leading 3–0 in third set with two breaks in her own.
Ivanovic started the 2014 season by winning the title inAuckland, defeating Venus Williams in the final in three sets, for her 12th title and her first since November 2011. At theAustralian Open, she defeated No. 1 ranked Serena Williams in the fourth round for her first win over Williams, after battling past Samantha Stosur in three sets. She lost to 30th seed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals in three sets.[64] On set point for Bouchard, Ivanovic double-faulted.[65]
At the next four tournaments of the Asian and American series, Ivanovic failed to make the quarterfinals at all of them. She beat top players such as Angelique Kerber (saving match point) in Dubai and Flavia Pennetta in Miami. But there were some big outages like a double bagel againstPetra Kvitová after Ivanovic won the first set. InMonterrey, Ivanovic was the second seed and went on to win her second title of the year, by defeating third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals andJovana Jakšić in the WTA's first-ever all-Serbian final.
RepresentingSerbia inFed Cup againstRomania, Ivanovic lost against Sorana Cîrstea, but beat world No. 5 Simona Halep in straight sets. Serbia would go on to lose the tie 1–4.
Ivanovic then participated inStuttgart where she made it all the way to the final, achieving back-to-back finals for the first time in her career. It was also the first time in five years, since the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, that Ivanovic had reached a Premier level final. En route she achieved other career milestones, defeating Julia Görges for her 400th career win and world No. 6, Jelena Janković, for her 40th career top-10 win. She eventually lost to two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova in the final in three sets.
InMadrid, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Simona Halep in just one hour. Ivanovic gained revenge for her Stuttgart defeat against Sharapova at theItalian Open, whom she defeated in the third round in straight sets, thus becoming the only person to defeat Sharapova on clay that year. The win was significant most of all because she became the first player other than Serena Williams to defeat Sharapova on clay since 2011, ended her winning streak in Rome (Sharapova was 47–3 on the surface and was undefeated in Rome since 2011) and was the only player to beat the Russian on clay in 2014. It was also the first time since the semifinals at the 2007 French Open that Ivanovic had defeated Sharapova. Against Serena Williams, in her second appearance in the Rome semifinals, she lost in three sets; she was the only player to take a set off Williams in the whole tournament.
AtRoland Garros Ivanovic was the 11th seed. This was her best Grand Slam seeding since the2009 US Open where she was the same seed. In the first two rounds, she defeated rising stars, Caroline Garcia and Elina Svitolina, before falling to 23rd seed Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. This marked the fifth straight time that Šafarova had beaten Ivanovic.
Ivanovic made a quick transition from clay to grass as she won her first grass-court title inBirmingham, as the first seed. Ivanovic beatBarbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, a later Wimbledon quarterfinalist, in the final. In all matches, she lost five or less games. AtWimbledon Ivanovic came in again as the 11th seed. She started well, with wins over Zheng Jie and Francesca Schiavone, all in straight sets. In third round she faced grass court specialist and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up,Sabine Lisicki. She won their match played earlier in the season. However, she would go on to lose in three sets. The match was particularly strange due to it being played over three days over the Middle Sunday. The first part was played on Saturday and with Lisicki leading 6–4, 1–1, the match was suspended due to bad light. On Monday match was played in two parts, being paused due to rain. In the first period of play, Ivanovic had momentum on her side. Upon resumption, Lisicki would go on to win seven of the next nine games. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic did not renew her contract with coach Nemanja Kontic.[66] She hiredDejan Petrovic as her coach.[67]
Ivanovic started theUS Open Series inStanford, avenging her Wimbledon loss by defeating Sabine Lisicki in straight sets. Ivanovic eventually lost in the quarterfinals in three sets to Serena Williams in their third three-set match of the year. As a result of her quarterfinals run, Ivanovic returned to the top ten in the WTA rankings for the first time since 2009.[68] Then at theRogers Cup, Ivanovic lost to eventual quarterfinalistCoCo Vandeweghe in the second round; but inCincinnati, she reached the Premier-5 final, beating Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and 5th seed Sharapova in the process. Against Sharapova, Ivanovic served for the match in the second set, but lost the next four games. Sharapova then served for the match, but Ivanovic saved two match points and went on to victory to set up the final match against Serena Williams. Ivanovic opened the match well, with a break and break points, but did not convert them and Williams broke back. Ivanovic won just two games after that start.
At theUS Open, Ivanovic was seeded 8th, her highest Grand Slam seeding since the 2009 French Open. In the first round she beat AmericanAlison Riske in straight sets only allowing her opponent to win three games, but was upset by unseeded CzechKarolína Plíšková in the second round in two close sets.
The following month, Ivanovic played inTokyo, defeating former world No. 1 Azarenka, Šafářová (ending her five-match losing streak against the Czech) and top-seed Angelique Kerber to reach the final. She then beat reigning US Open finalist Wozniacki in straight sets for her 15th title. She marked some personal achievements: this was her 52nd win and fourth title of the season, both personal bests. In Wuhan, she had to play the day after winning Tokyo and decided to retire in the second set of the match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Ivanovic came intoBeijing refreshed and beatBelinda Bencic, Romina Oprandi and Lisicki, all in straight sets. She set a quarterfinal clash with Simona Halep, but the world No. 2 had to withdraw allowing Ivanovic to advance to the semifinals. Ivanovic lost to Sharapova, but with those points she secured her spot in theWTA Finals.
Having qualified for the Tour Championships, Ivanovic was drawn into the Red Group alongside Serena Williams, Halep and Bouchard. In Ivanovic's first match of the tournament, against top-seed Serena Williams, she lost in straight sets. However, she clinched victory in her second match, against Bouchard. Despite defeating Halep in her final round-robin match, Ivanovic was unable to progress since she dropped a set in the process. In doing so, she became the first player since Lindsay Davenport in 2004 to not progress to the semifinals with a 2–1 record in RR play. However, Ivanovic did finish the year ranked No. 5, her second best year-end ranking since turning pro.[69]
Following the end of the season, Ivanovic played and defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in straight sets in anexhibition match in Denmark. She also went on to participate in the inauguralInternational Premier Tennis League held in cities across Asia. As part of theMicromax Indian Aces, Ivanovic played alongside many big names, includingRoger Federer andPete Sampras. Due to the new, fast-paced format unique to the IPTL, Ivanovic only played one set per match, representing her team in the women's singles category. The Aces went on to clinch the title, with Ivanovic amassing a total of nine wins and three losses.
2015: Struggles with form and return to a Grand Slam semifinal
Ivanovic began her 2015 season reaching final of theBrisbane International. She lost one set againstKaia Kanepi en route. By beatingVarvara Lepchenko,[70] Ivanovic set up a final clash against Maria Sharapova, which she lost despite taking the first set in a tiebreak. Ivanovic entered theAustralian Open as the fifth seed, but lost in the opening round in three sets to qualifier Lucie Hradecká, losing for the third time to a Czech player in her last four major appearances.[71] She later revealed that she was struggling with a toe injury during the match. At her next tournament inDubai, she lost just three games against Sabine Lisicki in the second round, but struggles continued as she lost to Karolína Plíšková in three sets.[72]
Ivanovic was the defending champion inMonterrey, but she lost Caroline Garcia in the semifinals.[73] InIndian Wells, things didn't go better, as she lost two more times to Garcia in both doubles and singles. InMiami Ivanovic beatIrina Falconi in the second round in three sets before losing in the third round to Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.
Ivanovic started her clay-court season with a third straight loss to Garcia inStuttgart, where she was defending finalist points. Prior to theMadrid Open, Ivanovic parted ways with coach Dejan Petrovic. After two months, Ivanovic managed to win back-to-back matches, reaching the third round where she lost to an in-form Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets. She then played in theItalian Open and lost in the second round to qualifier and eventual semifinalist,Daria Gavrilova, in three sets after failing to serve out the match in the third set. Ivanovic entered theFrench Open as the seventh seed. In the first and second rounds, she came back from a set down to beatYaroslava Shvedova andMisaki Doi, and with her third-round victory overDonna Vekić, Ivanovic reached 100 wins at Grand Slam events. In the fourth round, she beat Ekaterina Makarova in three sets, and in the quarterfinals, she beatElina Svitolina in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of a major for the first time since she won the title in Paris back in 2008. She lost to Lucie Šafářová in two tight sets despite being up 5–2 in the first set.
Ivanovic started her grass-court season at theBirmingham Classic as the defending champion. She failed to defend her title, losing in the second round toMichelle Larcher de Brito in three sets despite serving for the match in the third set. Ivanovic enteredWimbledon as the seventh seed. She easily beatXu Yifan in the first round in straight sets but then lost in the second round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets.
In late July, she went back to working with former coach,Nigel Sears. Ivanovic began her summer hard-court season at theRogers Cup where she was seeded fifth. She beat qualifiersOlga Govortsova andPolona Hercog to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. She lost to eventual champion, Belinda Bencic in straight sets. Ivanovic then played at theWestern & Southern Open where she was defending finalist points. After receiving a walkover in the second round from Venus Williams, she beat Sloane Stephens in three sets to set up a rematch of last year's final against Serena Williams in the quarterfinals which she lost in three sets despite being up a set and a break in both the second and third sets. Ivanovic next played at theUS Open as the seventh seed. She lost in the first round to Dominika Cibulková in three sets.
Ivanovic began her Asian hard court swing at theToray Pan Pacific Open. As the defending champion, she beatCamila Giorgi in the second round in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals where she lost to Cibulková in straight sets. Ivanovic's next tournament was theWuhan Open. She easily beat bothAlexandra Dulgheru andMadison Brengle to advance to the third round where she lost toGarbiñe Muguruza in three sets. Her next tournament was theChina Open. She beatCasey Dellacqua to advance to the second round, where she defeated an in-form Venus Williams in straight sets, winning the last six games of the second set in a row after going down an early break. She followed up the win by beating Kuznetsova and Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the semifinals where she lost toTimea Bacsinszky in three sets. The loss ended Ivanovic's chances to qualify for theWTA Finals.
At theAuckland Open Ivanovic was seeded second but lost in the first round to British qualifierNaomi Broady in straight sets. Ivanovic took a wildcard into theApia International Sydney and lost in the first round to Karolína Plíšková in straight sets. During theAustralian Open, she beatTammi Patterson andAnastasija Sevastova, both in straight sets to advance to the third round. Ivanovic lost toMadison Keys in three sets despite being up a set and a break in both the second and third sets. During the match Ivanovic's coach,Nigel Sears collapsed and was taken to a hospital where it was later confirmed that he was conscious.[74]
Ivanovic's next tournament was theSt. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy where she made it through to the semifinals. She beatMargarita Gasparyan &Kateryna Kozlova before losing to Roberta Vinci in straight sets. At theDubai Tennis Championships, after defeating Daria Gavrilova and world No. 3, Simona Halep, Ivanovic lost to Barbora Strýcová. AtIndian Wells she beat Camila Giorgi but then lost to Karolína Plíšková in round 3. In Miami she lost to Timea Bacsinszky. In Stuttgart she won her first-round match but then lost in the second round to Karolína Plíšková.
In the first round of theMadrid Open, Ivanovic beat qualifierKateřina Siniaková in three sets, however, she lost to another qualifierLouisa Chirico in the second round. At theItalian Open, she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, but lost to Christina McHale in the second round. Ivanovic had a tough first-round match win at theFrench Open after she beatOcéane Dodin in three sets. She defeatedKurumi Nara in the second round, but lost to Elina Svitolina in the third round. Ivanovic only won 15 matches in 2016 with the last coming in June. She played her career's last professional match in the first round of theUS Open againstDenisa Allertova and lost in straight sets. On 28 December, having been absent with injury since August, Ivanovic announced her retirement stating that she was no longer able to play to her high standards and win big tournaments, meaning it was time to move on from professional tennis and start a new chapter in her life.[75]
Ivanovic endorsedNike apparel and shoes at the beginning of her professional career,[77] but at the beginning of 2006 switched to rivalAdidas and has her own signature line.[78] Ivanovic then signed a lifetime contract with the company. Ivanovic became an Ambassador for Adidas once she retired from competitive tennis. She is believed to be the youngest athlete, male or female, to sign a contract of such longevity.[79]
She started withWilson racquets, eventually using the nCode nBlade painted H22.[80] From the beginning of 2008 to the end of her career, Ivanovic usedYonex racquets. She won the2008 French Open using the Yonex RQiS 1 Tour 95 before switching to the Yonex RQiS 1 Tour XL 95 in 2009. She began using a prototype version of a new Yonex racquet at the2010 Western & Southern Financial Group Masters and Women's Open in Cincinnati.[81] Ivanovic then started endorsing Yonex's EZONE line beginning with the EZONE 100. She then switched to the Yonex EZONE XI 98 in 2012, then played with the Yonex EZONE AI 98 in 2014, and finished her career with the Yonex EZONE DR 98.[82]
In 2008, Ivanovic signed an endorsement deal withRolex.[83]
Ivanovic was anoffensive baseliner with an aggressive style of play. After winning the2008 French Open and becoming No. 1, Ivanovic endured a decline in form. Many critics attributed this to lack of confidence.[84] At the2010 Australian Open, Hall of FamerMartina Navratilova commented that, "while she has absolutely no confidence in herself, she still fights till the last point." She made some improvements to her playing style after appointing a new coach in 2010. As a result, she started to play with more confidence and won matches more consistently.
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.[85] However, from 2009 to 2012, her service game was largely viewed as a liability instead of a weapon. This was because of her inconsistent ball tosses which were directly associated with her diminishing confidence.[84] Nonetheless, in 2013, under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, her ball tosses became more consistent, allowing her to build her game on her powerful first serves.
Ivanovic's flat and powerful forehand was her bread-and-butter shot that, in 2007–08, propelled her to the top of the rankings.[86] However, her backhand was a much weaker wing and was often targeted by players acquainted with Ivanovic's playing style. Her cross-court backhand generally lacked the depth required to throw her opponents off course.
While Ivanovic's movement and net play were once considered to be her weaknesses, they both improved over the years. Towards the end of her career she was considered faster than when she started playing professional tennis.[citation needed]
Ivanovic's best surface was clay, where her height allowed her to strike clean winners off high-bouncing balls. In addition, her weakness in movement was mitigated on slower clay courts. Nonetheless, she was capable of performing well on hard and grass courts as well. When she launched her re-branded site during 2010, she stated in her bio that she likes all surfaces.[87]
Ivanovic and her fellow SerbianJelena Janković have encountered each other 12 times with Ivanovic having the advantage 9 to 3 in match wins (including a walkover).[88] The pair played their first match against each other in an abandoned swimming pool used as a tennis court inBelgrade. A 9-year-old Janković won the match, beating the 7-year-old Ivanovic 7–1.[89] When asked why Ivanovic has posed such a problem for herself, Janković remarked that she struggles to read Ivanovic's game mostly due to the fact Ivanovic likes to play short points.[89] Ivanovic leads 2–1 on clay, 6–2 on hard courts and 1–0 on carpet courts.
The longest match contested between the two in the semi-finals at theEast West Bank Classic inLos Angeles. In a match lasting two and a half hours, Ivanovic recovered from a 4–1 third set deficit, saving two match points en route, to defeat Janković on her way to the title.[90] The most significant match between the pair took place in the semi-finals of theFrench Open, with the winner having assured of becoming world No. 1 and with both women bidding to win their first Grand Slam title. Ivanovic won the match, recovering from a 3–1 final set deficit to defeat Jankovic for the fifth consecutive time.[91] Jankovic's win at the2008 WTA Tour Championships inDoha later that year snapped a 5 match losing streak against her compatriot.[92]
The relationship between the pair has been strained. Both have openly admitted in the past to not liking each other and have been involved in a number of high-profile spats on and off court.[89] Ivanovic was criticized both by Janković and her mother after Ivanovic decided to withdraw from Serbia'sFed Cup World Group play-off tie against Slovakia, citing her poor form in 2010 which left Janković the only high-profile player to play the tie which Serbia lost 3–2.[93][94] During the same weekend, Ivanovic was photographed having coffee with her boyfriendAdam Scott at the island resort ofPalma, Majorca after which Snezana Janković denounced Ivanovic in the Serbian press.[95][96] Another high-profile controversy was after the pair's first meeting in two years in the second round of the2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open inMadrid where the match was marred however by an incident in which off court cameras appeared to catch Janković mocking Ivanovic's trademark fistpumps towards her mother and camp after the match.[97] Janković admitted she found Ivanovic's fistpumps "irritating" but that it was not meant to be offensive and was in the heat of the moment.[98] After their match in Indian Wells in 2011 however, Ivanovic stated she felt there were no real issues with Janković and both agreed that they have both put the past behind them,[99] an opinion echoed again by Janković after their Australian Open encounter in 2013.[100]
Ivanovic andSvetlana Kuznetsova have met 14 times since 2005, Ivanovic leading the head-to-head 11–3 overall.[109] Ivanovic leads 7–2 on hard courts and 4–1 on clay.
The pair first met in the fourth round of the2005 NASDAQ-100 Open, Ivanovic coming back from a 5–3 final set defeat to win and notch her first ever career Top 10 victory.[110] Ivanovic has won all of their significant meetings including their only Grand Slam encounter at the2007 French Open en route to her first Grand Slam final[111] and both their final meetings, at the2007 Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin[112] and the2008 Pacific Life Open inIndian Wells.[113] Kuznetsova's first victory over Ivanovic came at the2006 Medibank International in Sydney, which remains her only win against Ivanovic in a WTA event, her other two coming both inFed Cup encounters in 2008 and 2012.
Ivanovic andMaria Sharapova have met 14 times, Sharapova leading the head-to-head 10–4.[114] Sharapova leads 6–1 on hard courts and 4–2 on clay. Ivanovic leads 1–0 on carpet.
The pair first met at the2006 Generali Ladies Linz which Sharapova won in straight sets. Ivanovic beat Sharapova at the 2007 French Open in straight sets easily to advance to her first Grand Slam final. They would meet again at a Grand Slam, this time in the 2008 Australian Open final dubbed the "Glam Slam" final which Sharapova won in straight sets. After that match the pair did not meet for more than four years until the2012 BNP Paribas Open where Sharapova won after Ivanovic retired after winning the first game in the second set. Ivanovic would then lose the next four meetings that followed.
In 2014, Ivanovic defeated Sharapova for the first time since 2007 at theRome Masters in straight sets. Their match at theCincinnati Masters was a dramatic and controversial one. Ivanovic was up a set and a double break before a bad call was made that affected Ivanovic and allowed Sharapova back into the match to steal the second set. Then, in the third set, Ivanovic was up 1–0, 15–15 before she took a medical timeout, after which Sharapova took control of the set. Up 4–3 with a break, Sharapova double faulted on break point and sarcastically said to the umpire to "check her blood pressure" referring to the medical timeout that Ivanovic took earlier in the set.[115] Sharapova broke right back to serve for the match. Sharapova had two match points but failed to convert both. Ivanovic would eventually prevail, recording her first win over Sharapova on the hard courts.
The pair did not need to wait long to meet in 2015, with both drawn as the top 2 seeds in theBrisbane International. Both players qualified for the final, but it was Sharapova who once again clinched victory on the hard courts, despite dropping the first set to Ivanovic in a tiebreak.
Ivanovic andNadia Petrova have met 14 times since 2005, Ivanovic leading the head-to-head 9–5 overall.[116] Ivanovic leads 4–2 on hard courts and 5–1 on clay. Petrova leads 1–0 on both grass and carpet.
The pair first met in the second round of the2005 NASDAQ-100 Open with Ivanovic winning in straight sets. Later in the year, Petrova reached the semifinals of theFrench Open by defeating Ivanovic in straight sets in the quarterfinals. In the next two matches both players won one, and both were in a round of 16. Ivanovic won two significant matches in 2007. First, she beat Petrova in the 4th round ofWimbledon after a rollercoaster three set match. Later in the summer Ivanovic won in straight sets in their only meeting in a final, inLos Angeles. At that time, it was 4–2 for Ivanovic in their head-to-head, but Petrova won the next two meetings in two close matches to level the result. However, Ivanovic won five of the next six meetings, including the quarterfinals of the2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia when Petrova retired but after Ivanovic had won the first nine games, and the semifinals of the2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, which Ivanovic won in straight sets.
Ivanovic's inspiration to begin playing wasMonica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.[87] In 2010, Ivanovic adoptedBasel as her home away-from-home. She spent her spare time training and relaxing there and was quoted as saying she "appreciates Swiss solitude" and "I enjoy training here, especially in the summer."[24]
Aside from her tennis career, she also studies finance at a university in Belgrade, and Spanish in her spare time.[118] On 8 September 2007, Ivanovic became aUNICEFNational Ambassador forSerbia, alongsideAleksandar Đorđević,Jelena Janković,Emir Kusturica andNovak Djokovic. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovic visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids".[119]
In September 2014, Ivanovic began a relationship with German professionalfootballerBastian Schweinsteiger[120][121] They married on 12 July 2016, inVenice (Serbian:Ана Швајнштајгер /Ana Švajnštajger).[122] In 2018 she announced the birth of a baby boy[123] inChicago.[124] In 2019, she gave birth to their second son.[125]On February 10, 2023, Ivanovic announced on her Instagram she was expecting her 3rd child.[126] In May 2023, Ivanovic revealed on her Instagram page that she gave birth to her third child. The announcement was done through a joint social media post with her husband Bastian Schweinsteiger.[127] According to Serbian media, the names of the couples' first two sons are Luca and Leon respectively, while the name of their third child remains unknown to date.[128]
^Anne M. ToddVenus and Serena Williams: Athletes 2009 Page 92 "Venus, on the other hand, marched through the rounds by easily defeating Sharapova in the fourth round, Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals, and Ana Ivanovic in the semifinals."
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