Serbian media are reporting that Ana Ivanovic does not want to represent her country in the Fed Cup any more, stating that whether she plays or not, she always faces criticism and negative reactions. Serbian Tennis Federation, on the other hand, denies that Ana said goodbye to the team due to bad media treatment, however, they are not denying that it is over, praising Ana’s previous contributions to Serbian sport and the national team.
At first I thought that this couldn’t be real, that Ana will only skip the upcoming tie against Belgium on April 16-17 in the World Group II play-offs, but the more I’m reading about it, the more I realize that Ana is leaving the team for good. Serbian Tennis Federation said that Ana informed them about her decision in a letter, but she supposedly also said that she didn’t understand why her decision was provoking malicious comments in the media.
I only don’t get it why Ana said nothing on her Twitter or some other social networking platform. An honest statement there would have cut down on media speculations and negatively-oriented analyses. This way it all seems awkward, plus, in February 2016 when Ana didn’t play against Spain, Serbian team captain Tatjana Jecmenica said that Ana had practically invited herself to play against Paraguay in 2015, while the tie against Spain was not appealing to the former world No.1, as she had already qualified for the Olympics.
The last match Ana played in the Fed Cup was a win over Montserrat Gonzalez of Paraguay in April 2015 in Novi Sad, Serbia. The 2008 French Open champion is reported to be getting married on June 5th and we can now assume that the 2016 Rio Olympics will be her last, right?
The 29-year-old has a 20-9 win-loss record in Fed Cup action, 17/7 in singles and 3/2 in doubles.
I mean, why would she waste her time and energy playing the Fed Cup, it’s a lame tournament anyway…
Probably a wise decision, since her play can’t live up to the expectations – and they are always high in Fed Cup, and her ranking was high once. I guess it just isn’t that fun anymore. She has been a “model- wannabe” for a long time now, probably time now to focus on something else.
@Claire She quit probably because the serbians root for her only when she’s winning and trash her everytime she loses a match. And why would she keep on playing for someone who clearly don’t deserve her contribution any longer…. She has already done more for serbian sport than most of the serbian athletes. The main reason she is quitting and the reason the serbs are critisizing her is because she’s not like other serbian athletes who are prancing around worshiping Serbia and being a fascist. She has evolved past that…. And about the “model wannabe”, I think there is nothing wrong with athletes posing for magazines and doing all kind of edorsements, she’s an attractive girl and she should do it if given the chance…. it’s all part of being a popular athlete.
@Saudin. Claire just isn’t a fan of Ana, which is fine. But you described it good. Over the years, she always got criticism from her country. They always had something to complain about. After she had to pull out of the Olympics in 2008 because of an injury, it really started. She doesn’t want to represent our country. She doesn’t want to live here. Serbia is a very patriotic country, so because of all this, it’s very easy for them to hate her. In my opinion it’s sad how they treated her. They should be proud of all their tennis stars: Novak, Ana, Jelena. They all have done a lot for Serbian tennis.
But her quitting with the Serbian Fed Cup team, is the best decision for everyone. And besides that, she will not play tennis for a long time anymore. If you just look at her, the desire is gone, there are other priorities. So give the youngsters a chance.