Above is Ana Ivanovic on Day 1 playing at the 2015 Australian Open (Jan. 18, 2015 – Source: Ryan Pierse/Getty Images AsiaPac)
Ana Ivanovic is one of our favorite players here at Tennis Express so we were sad to see her get knocked out of the Australian Open in the opening round.
Last year at the Aussie Open, Ana was the one who pulled off the upset, taking out then (and now) 1 seed Serena Williams in the 4th round. This year, it was qualifier Lucie Hradecka who earned the glory of beating a higher ranked player.
It appeared that Ivanovic was playing well and with confidence going into the tournament after having just made the final in Brisbane and playing Maria Sharapova a tight three set match. Unfortunately, it did not carry over into the slam.
“The whole match I didn’t really feel like myself out there, it was really tough for me to find rhythm a little bit and in the third set it really felt like she raised her level,” Ivanovic said in response to what happened.
The 5th seed and World No. 5 looked emotionally drained in the post-match press conference.
“It’s very disappointing, it’s probably the worst thing that could happen,” she said with a forced smile, “but still the year is young and I really have to now sit and work on a few things and you know try to have a different kind of approach to this event and try to see what was lacking.”
While it is a bummer to leave the first slam of the year unexpectedly early, we have complete confidence that Ana will turn her luck around in the tournaments to come.
“It’s hard, there is no easy way to do it but to get back on the court…try to see next challenge and next event–there is no easy way–it has to hurt as well.”
You can still shop for Ana’s Australian Open gear, including the adidas adizero Tennis Dress and adidas CC adizero Tempaia III Tennis Shoe at Tennis Express!
