Five years after last reigning at the top of her sport, former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic insists she still has what it takes to reclaim her former status.
When Ivanovic triumphed at Roland Garros in 2008 and became world number one, it seemed like women’s tennis had anointed a natural successor to the all-conquering Williams sisters.
But having battled so hard to reach the summit, Ivanovic’s experience at the top proved anything but permanent.
One year later, Ivanovic had dropped out of the world top 10, and would ultimately fall as low as 65.
Rather than building on her French Open win, she failed to reach the quarter-finals at any of the following 17 Grand Slams – a run finally broken when she finally reached the last eight at the US Open late last year.
But for the 25-year-old Ivanovic, that small improvement has given her confidence that she still has what it takes to mix it with the best players in her sport.
Ivanovic said: “I’ve been working hard in the off-season and I want to put it together this year.
“Last year I felt I was in a position a lot of times to do well and to come through deep into tournaments, but I never broke through.
“I want to do it this year, but I understand it’s a process. It’s one thing saying I want to get back there, but I want to get back there and do it time after time.”
The new season has started relatively well for Ivanovic, with a rise back to 13 in the world rankings, although she still needs to improve if she is to finally earn her place back in the world top 10.
Ivanovic has reached the last 16 in both the Qatar Open in Doha and the Australian Open, losing each time to Agnieszka Radwanska, one of the new generation of players who has emerged as a Grand Slam contender in her absence.
Ivanovic insisted: “I definitely feel like my game is getting to the point where I can challenge the top players.
“That’s exciting, because it if wasn’t like that I wouldn’t be here.
“This is my big goal. I want to get myself in a position where I can play against these top players, because only by playing them time and time again can you break through and finally win.”
