Tennis Latest Rankings

As of June 16

Men Women
1. R. Federer
2. R. Nadal
3. N. Djokovic
4. N. Davydenko
5. D. Ferrer
6. A. Roddick
7. D. Nalbandian
8. J. Blake
9. R. Gasquet
10. S. Wawrinka


Women
1. A. Ivanovic
2. J. Jankovic
3. M. Sharapova
4. S. Kuznetsova
5. E. Dementieva
6. S. Williams
7. V. Williams
8. C. Chakvetadze
9. D. Safina
10. D. Hamtuchova

Ana Ivanovic, New World Number One Female Tennis Player

Ana Ivanovic

Residence: Basel, Switzerland

Date of Birth: November 6, 1987

Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia

Height: 6'1 (1.86 m)

Weight: 152 lbs. (69 kg)

Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)

Status: Pro (August 2003)

Career Highlights

SINGLES
Winner (7): 2008 - Indian Wells, Roland Garros; 2007 - Berlin, Los Angeles, Luxembourg; 2006 - Montreal; 2005 - Canberra; 2004 - ITF/Mallorca 2-ESP, ITF/Gifu-JPN, ITF/Fukuoka-JPN, ITF/Fano-ITA, ITF/Batumi-GEO.
Finalist (3): 2008 - Australian Open; 2007 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Roland Garros 2007
Semifinalist: (8): 2008 - Sydney, Berlin; 2007 - Amelia Island, Wimbledon, Year-End Championships; 2005 - Warsaw, Zurich, Linz.
Quarterfinalist (15): 2008 - Dubai; 2007 - Gold Coast, Sydney, Antwerp, s‘Hertogenbosch
2006 - Sydney, Indian Wells, Warsaw, s'Hertogenbosch; Los Angeles; Linz, Hasselt
2005 - Miami, Roland Garros; 2004 - Luxembourg.

DOUBLES
Finalist (1): 2006 - 's-Hertogenbosch (w/Kirilenko).
Semifinalist (2): 2006 - Tokyo [Pan Pacific], Warsaw (both w/Kirilenko).

Career in review

2003 - Made pro debut on ITF Circuit (played four events), also Tour debut (l. in Luxembourg qualifying).

2004 - Top 100 finish in first full season on the Tour, making the biggest ranking jump of any player in 2004 (608 spots); as world No.156 qualifier at Zürich (in third career main draw after Vienna, Birmingham earlier in season), upset No.29 Golovin 75 67(2) 76(3) in 1r (overcame 5-1 third-set deficit, 2mp), l. to V.Williams 76(11) 76(6) in 2r (held five set points in first set and three in second set tie-break); the next week, made Tour QF debut at Luxembourg (l. to Medina Garrigues), afterwards on November 1 made Top 100 debut (at No.96); started season winning first 21 matches and three titles, $10,000 ITF/Mallorca 2-ESP, $50,000 ITF/Gifu-JPN (as qualifier) and $50,000 ITF/Fukuoka-JPN (as qualifier); won two more $50,000 ITF Circuit titles (ITF/Fano-ITA, ITF/Batumi-GEO) just prior to qualifying for Zürich.

2005 - Breakthrough season, highlighted by career-first Tour singles title at Canberra and first Top 20 finish; captured title in first event of year at Canberra (as qualifier, d. LL Czink in final, had defeated Czink in final round of qualifying, believed to be a Tour first; 26th qualifier in Tour history to win a title); reached QF or better at five other events, incl. QF at Miami (d. world No.7 Kuznetsova en route for first Top 10 victory, falling to Mauresmo in first Tier I QF), SF at Warsaw (d. No.10 Zvonareva en route to first Tier II SF, losing to eventual champion Henin-Hardenne), QF at Roland Garros (on debut, d. No.3 Mauresmo en route for best match win of career to date, falling to Petrova in first Grand Slam QF), and consecutive SF in the fall at Zürich (l. to Schnyder in first Tier I SF) and Linz (l. again to Schnyder); in addition to Roland Garros, made debuts at all other Grand Slams, at Australian Open (l. in 3r to Mauresmo), Wimbledon (l. in 3r to Pierce) and US Open (as No.18 seed, upset in 2r by Vento-Kabchi in 3s; at No.16, was highest ranked player to make her debut at the US Open since No.14 Capriati in 1990, bettered only by No.12 Seles in 1989 since inception of computer rankings in 1975); reduced ranking to less than one-fifth between beginning and end of season, ranked No.100 in first event at Canberra, making Top 50 debut (at No.50) on March 7, Top 20 debut (at No.20) after Wimbledon, and rising to current career-high No.16 on August 29; withdrew from Toronto [Canadian Open] prior to 3r match vs. Clijsters w/right pectoral muscle strain, withdrew from Luxembourg w/right shoulder injury and from Moscow w/left wrist strain.

2006 - Second consecutive Top 20 finish; season highlighted by capturing second and biggest Tour singles title at Tier I Montréal (as No.13 seed, d. No.9 seed Safina in SF and No.7 seed Hingis in final); clinched US Open Series victory with the title; seven-time quarterfinalist, at Sydney (upset No.2 seed Mauresmo en route, falling to No.6 seed Kuznetsova), Indian Wells (l. to Dementieva in 3s), Warsaw (upset No.2 seed Schnyder en route, falling to Chakvetadze in 3s), ‘s-Hertogenbosch (l. to Dementieva), Los Angeles (l. to Jankovic), Linz (l. to Sharapova) and Hasselt (l. to Krajicek); win over world No.3 Mauresmo at Sydney was equal-biggest career victory, and win over world No.8 Schnyder at Warsaw was second Top 10 win of season, fifth of career; reached 4r twice, at Miami (l. to Mauresmo) and Wimbledon (as No.19 seed, d. No.14 seed Safina in 3r, falling to top seed and eventual champion Mauresmo); 3r three times, incl. Roland Garros (as No.19 seed, l. to No.10 seed Myskina) and US Open (as No.16 seed, l. to WC S.Williams); 2r three times, incl. Australian Open (as No.21 seed, upset by Stosur), and fell 1r three times, incl. Berlin (ret. vs. N.Li w/left hamstring strain); notched 100th career singles match win in Warsaw 1r (vs. Domachowska), also surpassed $1 million in career prize money earnings; on September 11 (after US Open), moved from No.17 to No.15, her career Top 15 debut; on October 16, moved up to No.13, a new career-high; reached first Tour doubles final at ‘s-Hertogenbosch and a semifinals at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] and Warsaw (all w/Kirilenko); withdrew from Rome w/left hamstring strain and from Stuttgart, Zurich w/right shoulder tendonitis.

2007 - Another breakthrough season of sorts, culminating in first Top 10 finish, highlighted by third, fourth and fifth career Tour singles titles and first Grand Slam final at Roland Garros; won titles at Berlin (as No.12 seed, d. No.3 seed Kuznetsova in final; second career Tier I title), Los Angeles (as No.3-seeded WC, d. No.2 seed Jankovic 46 63 75 in SF after trailing 4-1 in third set and saving 2mp down 5-4; d. No.4 seed Petrova in final) and Luxembourg (as No.2 seed, d. No.4 seed Hantuchova 36 64 64 in final, having trailed 63 30); two-time runner-up, at Tier I Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (as No.5 seed, d. No.4 seed Jankovic en route; l. to No.2 seed Hingis) and Roland Garros (as No.7 seed, d. No.3 seed Kuznetsova in QF and No.2 seed Sharapova in SF before falling to top seed Henin in final; was first player representing Serbia, male or female, to reach a Grand Slam singles final); SF three times, at Amelia Island (as No.6 seed, d. No.2 seed Jankovic en route; l. to No.8 seed Golovin in 3s), Wimbledon (as No.6 seed, overcame 3-1 third set deficit to d. No.11 seed Petrova 61 26 64 in 4r and 5-3 third set deficit and 3mp trailing 5-4 to d. No.14 seed Vaidisova 46 62 75 in QF; l. to No.23 seed and eventual champion V.Williams) and finally first Tour Championships - having qualified at No.4 in Race, compiled 2-1 RR record (d. Kuznetsova and Hantuchova; l. to Sharapova) to reach SF (l. to Henin); notched 12 Top 10 wins during season, at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] (No.10 Jankovic), Amelia Island (No.9 Jankovic), Berlin (No.4 Kuznetsova), Roland Garros (No.3 Kuznetsova, No.2 Sharapova), Wimbledon (No.9 Petrova, No.10 Vaidisova), Los Angeles (No.3 Jankovic, No.9 Petrova), Luxembourg (No.10 Hantuchova) and Tour Championships (No.2 Kuznetsova, No.9 Hantuchova); wins over Sharapova and Kuznetsova were career-best wins; having begun year No.14, made Top 10 debut on May 14 (moving from No.16 to No.8 after Berlin), Top 5 debut on July 9 (moving from No.6 to No.5 after Roland Garros) and reaching career-high No.4 on August 13 (after Los Angeles); four more QF, at Gold Coast (l. to Peer), Sydney (l. to Vaidisova), Antwerp (l. to Clijsters) and 's-Hertogenbosch (l. to Hantuchova); suffered eight pre-QF losses in 19 regular season events, incl. at Australian Open (as No.13 seed, l. 3r to No.22 seed Zvonareva) and US Open (as No.5 seed, l. 4r to No.12 seed V.Williams); surpassed both $1 million and $2 million in career earnings, in fact earning over 60% of her career prize money this season alone; withdrew from Rome w/ankle injury and from San Diego w/knee injury.

Personal

Began working with Scott Byrnes (strength and conditioning coach) in July 2006 ... Started playing tennis at age 5 after watching it on TV (in particular Monica Seles), remembering the phone number to a local tennis school and begging her parents to take her; was given a racquet for her fifth birthday and immediately fell in love with the game ... Mother, Dragana, is a lawyer; father, Miroslav, is a businessman; brother, Milos, is four years Ana's junior, and likes playing basketball; all the family likes sports, but none played tennis before Ana ... Trained in a disused swimming pool at the Jedanaesti April 11 sports center in Belgrade ... Best shot is forehand; likes all surfaces ... Likes watching movies (especially thrillers) either at the cinema or on DVD at home; also likes to read (especially about history and Greek mythology) and to listen to music (pop and R&B) ... Loves the TV shows 24, Lost and Prison Break ... Enjoys shopping, fashion ... Favorite food is sushi ... Favorite drink is water, fresh orange juice ... In September 2007 began studying finance at a private university that allows her to take exams online ... Admires Federer for his professionalism on and off the court ... Superstitions are to not walk on lines of the court, and at some tournaments to eat at the same restaurant each night ... Sometimes prepares for matches by playing Sudoku or backgammon in locker room ... Favorite places to visit are Melbourne, where she has some family, London and Paris ... Self-described as strong-willed, sensitive, determined and extremely competitive ... Most admires her family for all the support they give her ... Speaks fluent English, Serbian and some Spanish ... One of her off-court goals is to learn how to surf ... Most memorable experiences to date are reaching 2007 Roland Garros final and playing a charity match against Agassi.

Awards, etc.

Junior Wimbledon runner-up 2004

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Most Improved Player 2005

US Open Series champion 2006

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Most Improved Player 2007

Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Karen Krantzcke Sportmanship Award 2007

UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia

Nominated for U.S. Secretary of State's 2007 International Women of Courage Award

Trivia

Most embarrassing moment in tennis is when she took another player's racket bag onto court after mistaking it for her own

The President of Serbia, Boris Tadic, attended her 20th birthday party

Was featured on a Serbian postage stamp during the run-up to the 2008 Olympics

One of her proudest achievements is winning 16 matches in 15 days as she captured back-to-back titles on the ITF Women's Cicuit when she was 16

Has won the tennisreporters.net Sexiest Female Player award for the last three years

Finished 23rd on FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2008 list

Named the best-looking tennis player of all-time by The Age newspaper

Has the most-visited website of any sportswoman (according to www.alexa.com, on 14 June 2008)

Source: www.anaivanovic.com

Henin To Call it Quits

By Tennis Week

Justine Henin is ready to walk away from professional tennis. The World No. 1 will make an announcement about her future at a press conference in Belgium today.

The Belgian media reports Henin will either announce her retirement or reveal plans to take an extended break from tennis.

The seven-time Grand slam champion withdrew from this week's Rome tournament citing fatigue, incurring a $20,000 fine. Henin has posted a 22-4 record on the season. She won two of the first three tournaments she entered — beating Svetlana Kuznetsova, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to win the Sydney title in her first tournament of the season and crushing Karin Knapp, 6-3, 6-3, to win the Antwerp title in her native Belgium — but since that strong start her tradedmark tenacity and competitive spirit has been lacking. A weary Henin has gone 5-3 in her last eight matches and looked lethargic in a 6-2, 6-0, quarterfinal loss to Serena Williams at the Sony Ericsson Open as well as a 7-5, 3-6, 1-6, setback to Dinara Safina in the third round of last week's German Open in Berlin.

Henin is only 25 years old, but the accelerated pace of the pro circuit prompted her to consider life after tennis. Henin hinted at her desire to retire in a press conference with the media in Berlin last week.

"I'm young in life, but starting to get old on the tour," Henin said. "I'm growing up and I need different things. Even physically I don't recover as well as I did when I was 20. That's normal. Now I've been playing tennis for 20 years and it's been my whole life but as a woman, as you get older, you need to think about the future. I'd love to go back to study. It would be a good challenge and I've been thinking about it a lot recently."

Source: http://www.tennisweek.com/news/fullstory.sps?inewsid=4018162

Federer Faces Tough Road To Title

Roger Federer defeated arch rival David Nalbandian 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 Friday to reach the Masters Series Monte-Carlo semifinals, but his tough path to the title likely runs through Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.

Estoril champion Federer extended his clay-court winning streak to eight matches and avenged back-to-back ATP Masters Series losses to Nalbandian in Madrid and Paris at the end of last year with his best performance of the tournament to date. After a tense, energy-sapping first set, Federer's superior fitness proved decisive as the match wore on, particularly in the third set as the match broke through the two-hour mark.

But the ATP World No. 1 initially did not have things go all his way. In the first set at 5-5, Nalbandian produced a sublime chip/charge and drop volley combination off a Federer second serve to move to 0/40, and soon thereafter converted his third break chance of the game to take the first break of the match. The Argentine closed out the set on his first set point after surprising Federer with a serve and volley play.

After not facing a beak point in the first set, Nalbandian was broken in the opening game of the second set and twice more as a rejuvenated Federer raced away with the second set. In the third set Federer broke Nalbandian for 4-2 when the Argentine, perhaps emboldened by his attacking play on set point in the first set, made a strange decision to serve and volley on his second serve at 30/40, only to net a routine backhand volley. Federer held for 5-2 and broke again to close out the match. He faces the winner of World No. 3 Novak Djokovic and American Sam Querrey.

Federer, who has finished runner-up to Rafael Nadal the past two years in Monte-Carlo, improved to a 9-8 career record against Nalbandian.

Source: http://montecarlo.masters-series.com/1/en/news/newsarticle_1064.asp

Relieved Novak living the dream

By Bren O'Brien

Men's Australian Open champion Novak Djokovic has spoken of his relief at breaking through for his maiden Grand Slam title after his four-set win over Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at Rod Laver Arena.

While he is only 20, Djokovic had desperately wanted to take his chance to open his Grand Slam account having made the semi-finals or better at the past three tournaments. Having realised one of the best moments of his career, Djokovic said he felt a weight had been lifted off his shoulders.

"It's an indescribable feeling, something that I always dreamed of, of course. I think every player dreams about winning a Grand Slam. It's something special. It's a special event. It's two weeks long, all the best players in the world playing. Then you come up in the end as a champion, you know, only one guy to win the tournament. I mean, I'm still not aware of the big achievement I have had in these two weeks," he said.

Djokovic revealed that he felt under enormous pressure coming into the final as favourite, having defeated Roger Federer in the semi-finals.

"It was kind of strange feeling to get into the match as the favourite. As I was saying in the pre-conference, it's always dangerous to play against the underdog, the player who doesn't have really anything to lose," he said.

"You get to the final, you know, final match, you just want to make another step and win it. I was nervous and there was pressure, and I think it's understandable. But I'm very happy the way I deal with that pressure," he said.

Djokovic hasn't had time to consider whether his success ushers in a new era in men's tennis after breaking the duopoly of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

"I mean, it's not possible that only one tournament is changing the history. Of course, I mean, I played amazing tennis here, so I think I absolutely deserved to win, even against him (Federer) in the semifinals," he said.

"I'm gonna take it easy, you know. I'm not gonna try to think about reaching even higher goals right away. I'm not in a rush. I want to enjoy in my success and just celebrate with the people I care about. From then, I'll see what it goes."

The past three years have been dominated by the Swiss and the Spaniard, with no other player able to claim a Grand Slam title since Marat Safin at Australian Open 2005. Djokovic, the poster child of the new generation, believes the Swiss master and the determined Spaniard will fight as hard as ever.

"Everybody who wins a Grand Slam, you have to give them a lot of appreciation and respect. I just felt it now, what it feels like. Hopefully, you know, in the future I'm gonna feel it more," he said.

"He's (Federer) gonna come back in a big style, of course. He's still planning to be the best player in the world, so we all know how good he is. We're gonna see a lot of him this year."

Djokovic becomes the first player from his proud sporting nation to claim a Grand Slam title, inspiring the local Serbian community into fanatical support for the 20-year-old from Belgrade. There are 30,000 people of Serbian origin in Melbourne, and each and every one of them was behind their man as he overcame injury and a first set slip-up to secure victory. The thought of those fans, plus all the people back in Serbia, puts a smile on the proud young man's face.

"I think everybody was really surprised with the amount of the players we produced from such a small country with no tennis tradition. So I think it's still unexplainable, because there was no system whatsoever in our country for tennis and we didn't get so much support needed in that stage, mostly needed," he said.

"We've always had I can say strong support from our closest family, from our parents. And I think this hunger for success and the times and things we went through made us stronger."

With plenty of strength both in the women's and men's game at the moment, Djokovic believes that Serbian tennis could well be set for a golden era.

"Until now, we still didn't have a Grand Slam champion. Now I don't even realise how big deal this is. I really am overjoyed with the victory and very happy that the people in Serbia appreciate what we have done. Not just myself, but everybody," he said.

Source: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/articles/2008-01-27/200801271201357735796.html?promo=sub_toparticles

Hantuchova hammers past Radwanska

Slovakian No.9 seed Daniela Hantuchova has advanced to the semi-finals with ease as she eliminated Polish Agnieszka Radwanska 6-2 6-2.

Radwanska, 18, had enjoyed a spectacular run at Australian Open 2008, overpowering second seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round.

But her Australian Open hopes were demolished as Hantuchova dominated the match with her powerful serve and groundstrokes.

Hantuchova broke her opponent's serve in the third game of the opening set, giving Radwanska little room to move as she controlled play from the baseline.

The No.9 seed had six break points in the seventh game but her opponent fought back to hold her serve. But the Slovakian finally got her way, winning the set in 40 minutes.

Radwanska showed glimpses of her natural talent in the second set, winning with some impressive drop shots from the net. But her serve let her down, and Hantuchova capitalised, breaking early in the set and again in the fifth game.

Radwanska broke in the seventh game to trail 2-5 but any hope of a revival was quickly snuffed out by her in-form opponent.

Source: http://www.australianopen.com/en_AU/news/match_reports/2008-01-23/200801231201055848328.html