Ana Ivanovic targets greater consistency in her game

Ana Ivanovic returns a shot during her match against Venus Williams. — KT photo by Shihab

Ana Ivanovic is targeting greater consistency in her game and results in 2014 as she bids to get back to the very top of women’s tennis. The current world number 12 undoubtedly still possesses the shots and strategy to trouble those ranked above her, as she proved by beating Serena Williams on the way to the Australian Open quarter-finals just last month.

However, since winning the French Open in 2008, Ivanovic hasn’t quite managed to capitalise on impressive performances with displays of a similar standard subsequently — a drawback that has to change if she is to return to the summit one day.

“I really feel like I can improve in some areas still,” the 26-year-old from Belgrade said. “I want to back up my good results and victories and that’s something that I was lacking a little bit in the past few years. That’s something you need in order to be a top player and that’s my goal, so I really want to keep my head down and hopefully reach the sky.

“That’s my main goal this season. Obviously one target is to get back to the top, but if I manage to back these victories up, the world rankings take care of themselves.”

Assisting Ivanovic this season is a support team with their roots very much in the former Yugoslavia, spearheaded by Montenegrin coach Nemanja Kontic and fitness coach Zlatko Novkovic.

“The team is basically the crucial thing because we perform on our own, but we are never alone. We always have people behind us,” she added. “All the success and all the things that happen, they happen because you have a team behind you.

“It does help having a Serbian team behind me. It has disadvantages and advantages because Serbians have very combative personalities, but — on the flip side of the coin — it pushes me and they can understand me a lot better with what goes on in my mind and they know how to channel it better.”

alex@khaleejtimes.com