Ana Ivanovic - wins Generali Ladies in Linz

Ivanovic wins Generali Ladies in Linz

Ana Ivanovic was given a wild card into the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, but she may no longer need it after beating Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-2 to win the Generali Ladies in Linz.

While that final took just 47 minutes, on the other side of the world at the HP Open in Osaka Tamarine Tanasugarn needed three hours and seven minutes to overcome Kimiko Date Krumm in what was the oldest known final ever played on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. Tanasugarn is 33, and Date Krumm 40, and the Thai's victory prevented her Japanese opponent from becoming the oldest player ever to win a Tour title. Billie Jean King still holds the record, winning Birmingham at the age of 39 years and seven months.

Ivanovic, having just played in Tokyo and Beijing, was going to rest before playing Luxembourg and Bali. But she took up the invitation to play in Linz after receiving a call asking her to step in for the injured Serena Williams. She said yes, and she was happy that she did.

"It's amazing how some things work out. I'm really glad I took the opportunity," said Ivanovic after claiming her first title since she won in Linz two years ago. "I had confidence from the last few matches and that helped me to stay aggressive today. Even though there were a few tough games I still believed in my shots and came up with some good points."

Biography

Ana Ivanović (Serbian Cyrillic: Ана Ивановић) Serbian pronunciation: [ˈana iˈvaːnɔvitɕ] (born November 6, 1987, in Belgrade, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia) is a former World No. 1 Serbian tennis player. As of October 18, 2010, she is ranked World No. 26 on the WTA rankings. She won the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open

Ivanović's mother Dragana, a lawyer, supports her daughter during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attends as many events as he possibly can. Ana has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loves to play basketball. Aside from her tennis career, Ivanović also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles.

On September 8, 2007, Ivanović became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević, Jelena Janković and Emir Kusturica. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanović visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids."

Ivanović confirmed in November 2008 that she was romantically involved with Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco, but it was reported that the relationship ended in January 2009. Ivanović was then in a relationship with Australia's golf player Adam Scott but their relationship apparently ended in August 2010. Some of her best friends include close childhood family friend Novak Djokovic, whom she has known since the age of 5, and current ATP World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. She admires former World No. 1 tennis player Roger Federer.