World No.21 Ana Ivanovic won the French Open title only three years ago and reached the top of the WTA rankings then, but the Serb has been struggling to find that very game ever since, and except a few flashes of form and good results, the overall cloud surrounding her has been pretty gray. Today she lost in the first round of the French Open to world No.64 Johanna Larsson of Sweden 7-6(3) 0-6 6-2 (last year she lost in the second round, and the year before in the fourth).
After wasting four set points in the first set and losing that set in a tiebreak, Ivanovic won seven games in a row to find herself with a 1-0 lead in the decider, but then her world crumbled.
“I wish I knew (what went wrong since 2008). I try to look back and see what I’ve done then and to do the same things. I’m just trying to work it out,” Ivanovic said.
I’d like to mention that a lot of people in our poll actually voted for Ivanovic to go all the way to the title – she either has a lot of people who believe in her, or a very strong fan base who is there no matter what. In today’s tennis everything is possible, and Ivanovic winning the French Open would not be that much of a surprise under the current circumstances, it’s just that she has uncontrollable ups and downs.
Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters are safely through to the second round. Sharapova, who came to Paris on the wings of her Rome title, defeated Mirjana Lucic 6-3 6-0 without facing a break point. Clijsters proved her form after a two-month long absence with a 6-2 6-3 win over Anastasiya Yakimova in the first round of the French Open.
Victoria Azarenka and Li Na also won their openers. Virginie Razzano, who was playing in tribute of her late fiance Stephane Vidal, lost in the first round to Jarmila Gajdosova 6-3 6-1. Razzano will play doubles with Alize Cornet. (photo: sr_cranks)
I saw the match and just couldn’t believe how she played in the third set compared to the second. Shocking. She’s gifted Larsson lots of points by UEs and just completely fell apart mentally. She’s becoming the same troubled insecure player as she once was. Sad, sad very sad. But then again with a team like she has now it’s hard to expect better result… there is also an article on my blog where I’m talking about it.
http://tennisnotebook.blogspot.com/2011/05/ana-ivanovic-does-it-again-start-of-new.html
I’ve never understand while you put ana like a favorite to win rg..I know that you are from serbia..but ana plays really bad! she doesn’t has any force to win a slam again! Today watching kim’s game I realice that NO ONE of the wta players plays like her! She must win! Is the only one who has the game and the brain to win a slam tittle!
Brenda, I put Ana as a past champion, but even more because a lot of people actually mentioned her as a possible favorite. You see that as of this moment only 6 more people voted for Kim than for Ana.
I agree with Brenda. Your poll is more of a popularity contest. Sharapova always wins popularity contests. Ana is the second most popular player in the game, but she didn’t deserve to be included in your poll. What happened three years ago or even what happened a year ago is unimportant in picking winners. The most important variable is how the players have done on clay this year. Ana sucked. The next most important varible is the player’s ranking, again Ana’s sucked compared to Andrea Petkovic and Li Na’s. I love Ana and hope she can come back. I’d even volunteer to coach her! (Hey! I’d be better than the crew she has had this year!!);)
I still don’t know how Ana lost this match after winning the second set! I was so dispointed!
Poor Ana! She is probably suffering a lot right now.
@Johnny, I don’t think that you realize what you are saying/wanting/ready to sign for. lol! Just read Ana’s quote on Marine’s blog post mentioned above and think twice.
I don’t want to write something negative because I like very much Ana but she is totally … in her head.
Probably the most horrible thing for Ana is that for 14 days, she has absolutely nothing to do except counting the minutes. And each time she turns on the TV or fires up a browser, the first thing that she should probably see or read is about her “friends” battling in Paris and playing tennis. That should be a total nightmare. It’s not like you are losing on Friday and next Monday another tournament starts. Here, she has to literally kill her time for two to three weeks.
Ana needs a good, real team and some advisor for her head. She can play good, but she’s too inconsistent and menthaly weak. And she is wrong, she can’t try and do the same things as 3 years ago, a lot of time has passed and she is not that player, physically and mentally anymore. She needs something new. I saw Andrea’s and Li’ performances and I’m not that impress. They could go far, but won’t be winners, they just don’t have the head.
It’s such a shame that she is out so early but hopefully she will show better next year.