Ana Ivanovic splits with coach Heinz Gunthardt
Ana Ivanovic has split with coach Heinz Gunthardt ahead of her final tournament for the season at the Tournament of Champions in Bali.
Gunthardt, the former coach of 22-time Grand Slam Steffi Graf (he was her coach for 12 of them), began working with the former world No. 1 in February, and during October was in charge as Ivanovic broke a two-year title drought at the Generali Ladies Linz.
He’s also seen her ranking climb back up its current mark of world No. 24, after it bottomed out outside the top-60 earlier in the year as the 2008 French Open champion struggled to find the confidence and form that had seemingly come so naturally early in her career.
"I'm very grateful to Heinz for all his hard work, and for sharing his knowledge with me," Ivanovic said on her website, anaivanovic.com. "We had nice success together and we definitely made improvements to my game.
"Looking ahead, I really need a full-time coach who is with me at all tournaments and during training periods. Heinz has family and other obligations, which I fully respect, so he is unable to give me the kind of commitment I am looking for."
Said Gunthardt in the same statement: “It's been a real pleasure working with Ana. She's got lots of talent and I feel in the last few months the hard work that we have put in started to pay off. If Ana feels she needs a coach at her side full-time to be able to further improve, it cannot be me."
"I wish her all the best and I will be supporting her."
Having taken so many steps back in the right direction this year, starting with Gunthardt’s appointment in February, Ivanovic’s fans can now only hope her decision to end their working relationship in search of a full-time replacement won’t hamper her progression back towards the top of the rankings in 2011.
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