Ivanovic not ready to join husband Schweinsteiger in retirement

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Ivanovic not ready to join husband Schweinsteiger in retirement
Ana Ivanovic plays a return to Denisa Allertova during her first round defeat at the US Open on Tuesday.

New York - The 2008 French Open champion did admit that she would be forced to "reassess" her faltering career after Tuesday's defeat

By Agencies

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Published: Tue 30 Aug 2016, 10:06 PM

Last updated: Wed 31 Aug 2016, 12:15 AM

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic suffered a fourth successive defeat on Tuesday but insisted she is not about to follow football star husband Bastian Schweinsteiger into international retirement.
The 2008 French Open champion did admit, however, that she would be forced to "reassess" her faltering career after giving up a 5-3 lead and squandering a set point before losing 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 to Denisa Allertova at the US Open.
The 28-year-old has not won a match since making the quarterfinals at Mallorca in June.
Since then she has lost first round at Wimbledon, the Olympics and Cincinnati with her confidence not helped by a wrist injury.
"I really feel like I have to reassess because I have been putting so many hours on court and in the gym in particular trying to get my body healthy," the Serb star said after a performance that included 41 unforced errors.
"It's been very frustrating not getting anything in return, because I really feel like I invested my heart."
Tuesday's loss was also Ivanovic's second successive first round exit in New York.
Twelve months ago, she lost her opener to Dominika Cibulkova. Her best performance remains a run to the quarterfinals in 2012.
Ivanovic married Manchester United star Schweinsteiger in Venice just after Wimbledon.
On Wednesday, the 32-year-old footballer will play his 121st and last international for Germany against Finland in Moenchengladbach.
Ivanovic, now ranked at 31 in the world and slipping towards her worst end-of-season position in 11 years, said she will follow the game on television, but will not be tempted to also draw the curtain down on her career.
"No, not at all. I just need to really see why this is happening," she explained.
"I mean I had struggles throughout my career; I had some tough times. This is not the first time I'm going through this. It just hurts because I know what I invested."
"I feel like I have the potential and game, but it hasn't really been coming together. I had four people travelling with me trying to make sure I'm on the right path and doing the right things.
"Before when I travelled with one or two people I was doing much better. These are the things I have to think about."
Allertova, meanwhile, goes on to face either Italy's Karin Knapp or Johanna Larsson of Sweden for a place in the last 32.
The 23-year-old Czech, ranked at 89 in the world, also made the second round last year where she went out to eventual runner-up Roberta Vinci.
Meanwhile, Rio Olympics bronze medallist and 2014 US Open runner-up Kei Nishikori has avoided what would have been his fourth first-round exit in his past six appearances at Flushing Meadows.
Nishikori, who earned Japan's first Olympic tennis medal since 1920 a little more than two weeks ago, advanced in New York on Tuesday by beating Benjamin Becker 6-1, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.
The sixth-seeded Nishikori reached his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open two years ago, losing to Marin Cilic at that stage. But he exited in the first round in 2011, 2013 and 2015.
Becker, a German who won on NCAA singles title at Baylor University, has lost his past 15 matches against opponents ranked in the top 10.


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