Past failings leave Serb pressure free

Published on Saturday 27 June 2009 19:40

ODD THOUGH it may sound, failure might just be the making of Ana Ivanovic. The former world No 1 is safely through to the fourth round after a fairly straightforward 7-5, 6-2 win over Sam Stosur. The second week beckons and now the real test of the Serb's new resolve begins.

Ever since she won the French Open last year, Ivanovic has been in desperate straits. Having spent the first 20 years of her life trying to get to the top, she had finally done it. She was a grand slam champion and now the rankings computer had recognised her as the best player in the world.

The view from the top was at first breathtaking and then, within weeks, terrifying. Ivanovic was gripped by a bout of vertigo.

A sensitive soul at best, the pressure of being the best in the business and one of the marquee attractions at every event she played had almost crushed her.

But now Ivanovic has slumped to No 12 in the rankings and here in SW19, she has been all but overlooked. With the attention focused elsewhere, Ivanovic is free to thump the ball as hard as she likes and simply get on with business.

On paper, Stosur appeared to be a huge obstacle. The Australian is feisty, competitive and happy on grass – just the sort of opponent Ivanovic would hate to meet if her confidence was a little ropey. But from the very start, the Serb was in charge, taking the early lead and, barring one moment of frailty when she dropped her serve, she never looked to be in any danger.

"I'm very happy that my game plan and my tactics prevailed over my emotions," Ivanovic said. "That's something that I'm really happy about. I stick with my plan and I just kept playing the best I can every point."

Having fired Craig Kardon – Martina Navratilova's former coach – and gone back to working with Sven Groeneveld, Ivanovic is obviously much happier. Groeneveld works in tandem with Darren Cahill, who used to coach Andre Agassi and Lleyton Hewitt, and together they are beginning to repair the mental and technical damage of the past year.

"Once I reached position No 1, it's like, Okay, what's next?" she said. "I didn't know how to deal with it because there is no higher position than the No 1, so obviously it's going to be setbacks and you're going to drop your ranking.

"Then some doubt crept in, and that's something that I didn't really know how to deal with and I didn't feel comfortable with it."

Venus Williams is the next figure on her horizon and, for once, the pressure will be piled high on the other side of the net. The defending champion is expected to win – and that might just be the release valve Ivanovic needs to play her best.