FLUSHING MEADOWS, NY, USA - Having been one of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's most promising future stars throughout the last few years, Ana Ivanovic recently announced her arrival among the game's current elite with a resounding triumph at the Tier I Rogers Cup in Montréal. Coming into the US Open as the US Open Series champion, she had a solid tournament, reaching the third round in both singles (falling to Serena Williams) and doubles (partnering Maria Kirilenko, falling to Martina Navratilova and Nadia Petrova). Read all about Ana's Flushing Meadows fortnight in the latest Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Player Blog.
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Wednesday, September 6, 2006
The tournament is over for me. Today's doubles defeat was pretty disappointing. I definitely didn't play my best tennis, but because Maria played so well we still came quite close to winning. Navratilova and Petrova are very experienced players and that probably made the difference - they were so solid on the break points. But on another day I think we would have won this match.
We're leaving New York tomorrow. It's always a rush when I leave a tournament. You want to get to the next one as soon as possible, to give yourself maximum time to prepare, so you hurry. Something funny happened in Montréal because of this: my mom forgot to check out of our hotel! When the trophy presentation ended, she went back to the hotel to pack our bags. She came down into the lobby just as David and I were arriving from the club. We were so excited about the win, and that the flight was soon leaving, that we called her over to the car. About 10 minutes before we got to the airport she realized she had not paid the bill, so she called them. Fortunately they had her credit card number, otherwise we might have been in trouble!
Again I am leaving a tournament without doing the things I planned to do. I was hoping to watch a musical on Broadway. Maybe next year. I say that a lot - I guess I will have to visit all these places again when I have retired so I can do some sightseeing!
One thing there was time for was a bit of shopping today, but not much. I just bought a pair of jeans. Tomorrow we are flying to Bali in the afternoon. It is a very long trip. We have two stops, one in Los Angeles and another in Singapore. We won't arrive in Bali until Saturday!
It was tough to find things to write about during the rain delays but I hope you still enjoyed reading my blog!
Love
Ana
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Tuesday, September 5, 2006
I'm afraid to say it was another boring day because of the weather. It is ironic that tennis players earn their money for being athletes and exerting themselves both on the court and in the gym, but one of the most important qualities is actually patience, because you are idle for much of the time when it rains.
Maria and I were supposed to play doubles in the afternoon, but it got cancelled. We were really looking forward to playing Navratilova and Petrova and felt that we had some good momentum after our win yesterday. I just hope that we can continue our good form when the rain eventually stops.
It's a slightly unusual situation because my coach David Taylor used to be the coach of Maria. So this helps when we are preparing for doubles matches, because he knows her game really well too. Practicing for doubles can be a little bit more difficult than for singles, because usually there are two coaches on the court and obviously they can have different ideas.
The coach's job involves a lot more than just giving instruction. David helps me with things like getting my racquets restrung. He also customized my new racquet, the Wilson nBlade, which I changed to soon after I started working with him.
And he also books the practice courts and arranges practice partners. Often I practice with Maria, but it is good to play against a variety of players and learn more about their styles.
I am hoping it does not rain tomorrow!
Love
Ana
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Monday, September 4, 2006
I really enjoyed today's doubles match. Of course, I might not be saying this if we had lost, but the match featured many exciting rallies. It was fun to take part in, and it was one of our best ever doubles wins - Groenefeld and Shaughnessy were the fifth seeds. We were very motivated. Even though in doubles you tend to have more fun and smile more than you probably do in singles, it's important to take it seriously. Maria and I did this, so we were able to maintain a high standard of tennis.
Doubles can be a lot of fun, especially because of the quick points at the net. Playing doubles helps me improve my volleys, which will become an important part of my singles game in the future. Today there was one fast point with many volleys that ended with me falling on the court! Overall, today was very positive. I felt back in a good rhythm, serving well and playing aggressively.
This morning I was woken up by the housekeeper. Even though I put the 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door, she still rang the bell! Often they do this in hotels, which is pretty annoying when you want to sleep!
Our hotel is in a good location. It's close to Radio City and there are many nice restaurants close by. But compared to some of the hotels we stayed in during the other tournaments in North America, my room is very small.
One thing that is cute about the hotel is that they play cartoons in the elevators: Bugs Bunny, Tom and Jerry and another that I cannot remember right now. So you can choose which elevator to take depending on which cartoon you want to watch! They also serve a famous hamburger in one of the restaurants. I see many office workers come to the hotel at lunchtime to queue so they can eat this hamburger. It's a little strange - I can't believe a hamburger can be THAT good!
Tomorrow Maria and I play Martina Navratilova and Nadia Petrova. We played a great match against Navratilova and Liezel Huber, when they were the top seeds in Warsaw, so we have confidence. But it is going to be another tough challenge.
Love
Ana
