Ana Ivanovic announces return to 2012 Brisbane International Open – Tennis News
Ana Ivanovic announced her return at the only event which is a warm up for the Australian Open, the Brisbane International Open 2012. The tournament will be held in Queensland Tennis Centre from the 1st to the 8th
of January, Australia.
The former world number one is very thrilled and said, “I am very excited to be coming back to Brisbane next year, it is one of my favourite times of the year and I love competing in Australia’.
The Serbian has contested in the event three times; once in 2007, 2009 and 2010. During her first appearance she managed to reach the quarterfinals but eventually lost to Israeli Shahar Peer.
After a year’s break she once again tried her luck at the event but again only reached the quarterfinals. However, in 2010 Ivanovic had improved her style and technique and this time managed to move into the semi finals by ousting
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova but her victory was cut short by Justine Henin.
Tournament director Cameron Person said, “Ana is a huge draw-card for tennis fans in Queensland where she has always been popular, and I look forward to welcoming her back in 2012”.
Ivanovic will be joined by many famous names such as current US Open champion Samantha Stosur, two former world number ones Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters. Not to forget, the thirteen time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams!
In 2008, Ivanovic was seeded second for the French Open and she went on to defeat the then world number 3 Jelena Jankovic in the semi final to an en-route victory at the final against Dinara Safina. This was her first and to date
Grand Slam singles title.
Nevertheless, former ‘number uno’ is an offensive baseliner who is known for her forceful offensive play. During 2007 and 2008, she was regarded as one of the best competitors on the women's tour. In addition, she also demonstrates
strong forehand skills especially when it comes to hitting flat ground strokes.
Although, Ivanovic was out of shape and form after she bagged the Grand Slam title, she has improved her style, movement and net play. She is now considered to be considerably faster than when she started playing professional tennis.
2011 has been a topsy turvy ride for Ivanovic as she mostly saw herself as a quarterfinalist and semi finalist in most of the tournaments and was unable to bag a title.
Nonetheless, she is not only a tennis prowess but has managed to accomplish many off the court awards and accolades. Apart from attaining the ‘Sony Ericsson WTA Tour most Improved player (2005) and (2007)’ award, a more recent
accomplishment was the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Humanitarian Award (2009).
The tournament has been upgraded by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to a Premier event, allowing infinite participation by the world’s not just the top 10 tennis players but also many international underdogs. In addition,
this upgrade has also boosted the prize money significantly.
Moreover, the upgrading was welcomed by the tournament director and he thanked the public of Queensland for their terrific support over the past three years.
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