The woes and worries of the disposed Serbian tennis stars

Ana Ivanovic is one of the players famed for her combination of glamour and good tennis. However, she has quickly faded out of the spotlight. She has not won a title this year, 2009. She has not passed the round of 16 in the past 6 slams. Her best performance was at Indian Wells, a premier mandotory event, often referred to as the 5th slam. Unfortunately, she fell in the finals to the tenacious Vera Zvonereva in straight sets.

Her woes started last year after she won French Open. Ever since her clay-court title, she has underperformed in every tournament. In 2008, she lost to Zheng Jie, China, in the 3rd round of Wimbledon. Then she lost to Julie Coin , France, in the 2nd round of US open. In 2009, she failed to defend her final appearance in Australian Open 2008 and bowed down to Alisa Kleybanova in the 3rd round. Her Roland Garros campaign was a total disaster, and her fans saw her crash out in the 4th round to rising star, Victoria Azarenka, Belarus. Ivanovic was stunned in a 36, 26 defeat. Ouch. At Wimbledon, she retired in the 4th Round against Venus Williams whilst trailing 16, 10. Then the Ivanovic slump spiralled further down. She had dismal results in the US Open series where she lost to Samantha Stosur in Los Angeles. Then she lost to Melinda Czink and Lucie Safarova in the opening rounds of Western Financial and Cincinnatihese results would. She lost in the 1st round of a slam for the first time in her career. She was beaten in a tight 3 setter at US Open. She blew a matchpoint when she hit wild cross-court forehand. Her tennis woes contined at the Pan Pacific Open where she lost to Lucie Safarova for the second time in the year. She has not played in any other tournaments ever since and pulled out of Beijing as she had developed an upper-respitory tract infection. Her win-loss record this year stands at 24-14 and she ended her year at number 22. After her US open, Pat Cash, a former champion of Wimbledon claimed that Ana Ivanovic’s serve was painful to watch. He also said Ivanovic suffered from a lack of confidence and was over-analysing her game.
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ESPN analyst Pam Shriver agreed with Ivanovic's tough self-assessment, saying the building blocks of her game have toppled like dominoes. "Whatever aura she had ran out, and people realized she was vulnerable,'' Shriver said "While Safina had her meltdowns in the late stages of Slams, Ivanovic was having hers in the early rounds.''After the series of losses, Ana made a public statement on her website and to journalists that she was glad to be ranked so high despite a year of unremarkable tennis. She quotes: I guess having to withdraw from Beijing is an appropriate ending to a very disappointing season"

Meanwhile Jelena Jankovic, another fallen Serbian star claims to be empathetic towards Ana’s slumping form as she to has suffered from the death of her granmother, illness of mother and an ill-advised training program where she lost alot of weight an over-trained. Jelena Jankovic started the year ranked number 1. However, was disposed by Marion Bartoli in the 4th round at Australian Open in straight sets resulting in her loss of the number 1 ranking. She was defeated in the 4th Round by youngster Sorana Cirstea after failing to serve for the match. At Wimbledon, she lost in 3 sets to Melanie Oudin and at US Open, she bombed out in the US Open, losing to Yaroslava Shredova in 3 tight sets. Many tennis commentators comment that she has a severe loss of confidence throughout her matches. Despite an awful year of tennis, she has claimed a title against Dinara Safina at Cincinnati. She also reached the final of Tokyo, where she retired due to wrist injury against Maria Sharapova. At the end of the year, Jelena quotes, ''To come out of this as a champion, it's I think a good achievement, no matter what your ranking is,'' she said. ''But to overcome those obstacles and to become a better player, I think it makes you much stronger as a person and as a player as well. ''So if you can do that, I think it can be a plus, it can be a positive thing.''

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Both of the Serbian rivals have found it hard to establish themselves this year, 2009. Hopefully, both will have a more fruiful year in 2010. Both players will also be representeing Serbia in Fed Cup as they have qualified for the World Group in 2010.

Who can overthrow Serena Williams?

What happened to the Serena Williams conquerors? Here are a list of them...courtesy to ESPN.

Dinara Safina: She consistently came up short when she had the opportunity to consolidate her hold on the top spot or to make an authoritative statement validating the ranking.

Jelena Jankovic: She unfortunately overtrained at the end of last year, explaining her horrific start to 2009. It certainly doesn't explain her patchy, ragged, up-and-down year.

Svetlana Kuznetsova: Want to be No. 1, Sveta? "No, but thanks for asking!"

Elena Dementieva: It's funny how someone who seems like a no-nonsense player with great athletic gifts can find so many ways to avoid bagging a Grand Slam title or piecing together a run that takes her to the No. 1 ranking and keeps her there for good. My guess: She sabotages herself at some obscure emotional level.

Venus Williams: The demand of greatness is tough enough to begin with; it's that much more crushing a burden when your heart isn't exactly or entirely into it. (Just ask Andre Agassi.) Venus has become an error-prone and somewhat sloppy player, which tells you that she's mentally played out. And her problems were further exacerbated by the fact that her kid sister, Serena, simply appeared to want the top ranking more.

Vera Zvonareva: She's got an A-game but a C-spirit. She is famed for her emotional meltdowns on court.

Victoria Azarenka: She started strong but faded, consistently falling victim to her emotions. But unlike the self-pitying and easily broken down Zvonareva, Azarenka is a fighter who may learn to channel her anger and frustration in a positive manner. I'd watch out for her next year.

Maria Sharapova: She's recovering from a shoulder injury.

Ana Ivanovic: Please call home.

Caroline Wozniacki: Her game may not blow you away, with its moon-balling, retrieving defensive cast. But she's got a great attitude and took enormous strides in accepting her success with an impressive degree of composure and maturity. She shows signs of becoming a crafty, reliable and solid player who has what most of her peers lack -- the ability to find a way to win.

The Battle of the Babes

If they weren’t playing on the women’s tour, they would easilly make a living through modelling. With their posh frocks on, whenever these girls battle it out for the match, they also battle it out for the glamour and looks. It’s always a 100 percent attendance when these girls play it out. Their looks rather then then their tennis prowess are a magnet for spectators Here are the list of the glamour girls.


Daniela Hantuchova: It's not just her looks, either; it's also the sexy and elegant way she moves. "I guess the attention paid to appearance is something that belongs to tennis, too."- Daniela Hantuchova


Ana Ivanovic: She says she can’t wait to meet Mr. Right. You could call Ana Ivanovic the Serbian girl-next-door. She is just like the girl next door. She has a charming smile. Her personaility is very likeable and sweet as well. Her glamour will always substitute her recent poor form. Apart from that, she is gorgeous.

Maria Sharapova: The queen of babes who needs no formal introduction. When the phrase "Sports Hottie of the Week" is mentioned, the name Maria Sharapova immediately springs to mind.Some say she's quite handy with a tennis racket and can handle herself on the court, but she's second to none when it comes to alluring good looks.

Flavia Pennetta: A passionate hater of Mauresmo and her sexual orientation, she is by far one of the more kinky tennis players. She has stated on interviews about her fantasies of having quickies with Safin. She also says she does not practise abstinece. Her long time bed partner on the tennis tour was Spaniard, Carlos Moya. In an interview, she said she would never do it with Federer, Nadal or Del Potro. She also likes to boast about how she "did it" in the toilets of a plane. She is one horny bitch.

Caroline Wozniacki: The new it girl. She is one fast rising star. Caroline is a youthful and glamorous tennis player of the new generation. She is one babe!

Elena Dementieva: Blonde, tall and photogenic, she is the perfect stereotype. She resembles a school girl when she ties her hair up. Her long legs makes anyone envy the ballboys.

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