Tennis: Ivanovic to Top 10 in 2011
Clearer of mind and fitter of body than for some time, Serbian glamor girl Ana Ivanovic is confident she can climb back into the top 10 in 2011.
Ranked no.1 in the world in 2008, when she won her only Grand Slam singles title at the French Open,
Ivanovic dropped out of the top 60 this year as she battled poor form before climbing her way back to 17 by season's end.
The 23-year-old claimed titles in Austria and Bali in the last three tournaments she played for the season and enters the new year full of confidence that her career is finally back on track.
Speaking on Thursday as she prepared to partner Novak Djokovic in the mixed teams Hopman Cup, Ivanovic said she was reaping the rewards of working with a new coaching team and an improved fitness regime.
She said the main improvement in her game was a renewed belief in her own ability.
"I am on the right way," she said.
"I feel good about my game and my fitness at the moment.
"It is a strange thing, once you lose it (confidence) you feel like it is very hard to get it back.
"In my case, I tried to search for it in many different directions and many different places and with different people, but you realize that it is all the time within you, you just have to discover it."
Ivanovic said she started working on her fitness with a close friend after Wimbledon.
"Once I got fitter, I felt like it gave me confidence on the court," she said.
"I worked really hard and started to play a lot better in the summer in America and all the things started to come together.
"It wasn't any more this balance between my game, my fitness and my mental, which was very nice to see.
"Once you start to feel better the confidence just grows and to have two titles at the end of the year meant a lot to me."
Ivanovic is confident she can win more Grand Slam titles to add her Roland Garros success.
"I am very excited about this upcoming year," she said.
"There is a lot of potential to do really well, there are a lot of great players out there, but it has been a little bit up and down and a lot of players have been fighting injuries of haven't played that many events.
"If you can start good and be really consistent, you can get far next year.
"I want to get back to top 10 and hopefully win another Grand Slam.
"I know I have potential to win some more."
Source: Agence France Presse
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