Players Under The Microscope / Simon Mundie / 05 December 2008 / Leave a comment

Ana Ivanovic's meteoric rise up the rankings in the first half of 2008 was of stark contrast to her fall from grace in the second half of the season. But the former world number one is a tough competitor and has showed signs that she may be getting her mojo back. Simon Mundie wonders how the Serbian pin-up will fare next year?

Charles Dickens best sums up Ana Ivanovic's tennis year: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. She reached the pinnacle of the women's game, looking increasingly like the player who could fill the void left by Justine Henin's sudden retirement, before suffering an alarming tumble in form. The question is, which Ana Ivanovic can we expect in 2009?

2008 started well for the Serbian pin-up. In the first Grand Slam of the year in Australia, she had a bruising semi-final encounter with Daniela Hantuchova after beating Venus Williams in the last eight. She quickly lost the first eight games against Hantuchova, before pulling herself together to win in three sets. That match seemed to show a real grit to Ivanovic; that she had the stomach for a fight. Although she lost the final to Maria Sharapova, she rose to a career high number 2 in the world and seemed to have set the tone for a successful season.

From there things went from strength-to-strength, she beat Jelena Jankovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova in successive rounds to win the Indian Wells tournament in March, before heading to Paris as one of the favourites. She didn't disappoint, winning her first Grand Slam title at the expense of Dinara Safina, securing the number one ranking in the process.

Thereafter, things started to go awry for the glamorous Serb. She injured her thumb between the French Open and Wimbledon, which hampered her preparation for SW19. She bowed out in the third round, soundly beaten by Jheng Zie, and failed to win back-to-back matches in her next five events, which included another early exit in a Grand Slam at Flushing Meadows. Ivanovic admitted she found the pressure of being number one tough to bear, saying players came out swinging with nothing to lose, and revealed she admired Federer all the more for managing to stay astride the rankings for so long.

Her dip in form was alarming, causing some to speculate that she had overachieved, and that we were about to witness the most dramatic decline in a top player since Jelena Dokic disappeared off the tennis radar a few years ago. There were even rumours that she was suffering on-court panic attacks, and was mentally wholly incapable of dealing with the pressure of occupying top spot.

Ivanovic did manage to salvage some pride in the final few tournaments of the regular season, reaching the semi-finals in Zurich where she went down in three sets to Venus Williams, before winning the eighth title over her career in Linz, defeating Vera Zvonereva in the final. Her final outing, at the Tour Championships was somewhat lacklustre; she lost both her round-robin matches before pulling out with injury.

So having reached the top of the pile, by the year's end she was down to fifth in the rankings, and her credentials were being seriously questioned. What was the real reason for sudden reversal in her fortunes?

Firstly, the idea that she was suffering with panic attacks is false. Ivanovic is actually a very tough competitor; her record in tight three set matches makes very impressive reading. She has had the odd match where nerves have got the better of her, her first French Open final against Justine Henin in 2007 a case in point. On that day, she sprayed forehands wildly out, and pulled her cap down over her eyes like she wanted the ground to swallow her up, but as a rule she is a tough competitor. She was probably not ready to be world number one, and wouldn't have had to contend with that pressure had Henin not quit the sport. Other players, Pete Sampras for one, have struggled to cope with high levels of expectation early in their career and come back to enjoy excellent careers.

The single most important reason for her poor form was her thumb injury, and now that has cleared up and the level of expectation has dropped slightly, I expect her to go on and have a strong 2009. Ivanovic's record against some of the top players is impressive; she's 6-2 against Jankovic and 6-1 against Kuznetsova. She does struggle against the Williams sisters, but that will probably change as she becomes less intimidated the older she gets, and I would expect her to start as favourite against either sister on a clay court.

As for the Australian Open, she will head down under early to give herself the best possible chance of success, and she will be fit, rested and without the weight of the worlds on her shoulders. She will also be content off the court, as her new beau Fernando Verdasco will be there. Indeed the first Grand Slam of 2009 would be the ideal place to prove her dip in form during the second half of 2009 was nothing more than the blip it was.