Tennis Update: Ana Ivanovic excited to return to Hopman Cup
Probably the last edition of the Hopman Cup, the XXIII Hopman Cup (HC) will be held from 1st January until the 10th. The first event in the ITF circuit, HC is a mixed team event where tennis pros compete under
the banners of their countries. Each matchup between the two countries includes one men’s singles match, one women’s singles match and one mixed doubles match.
Eight countries divided into two groups of four participate at this event. Seeded first in this event is the Serbian team of Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic.
Former world number one, Ivanovic looks at HC as the first stop to make it back to the top ten in 2011. Currently ranked at seventeen in the world, Ivanovic had a tumultuous season in 2010. Given her poor performance in 2009, Ivanovic
entered 2010 ranked twentieth in the world. She, however, slipped out of the top fifty given her losing streak in February to March. Other than making it to the fourth round at the US Open, Ivanovic failed to make it past the early rounds at the rest of the
Grand Slams. Looking to end the year on a better note, Ivanovic made quarterfinal runs at the 2010 China Open and at the 2010 BGL Luxembourg Open, securing the 24th position in the rankings. In October, Ivanovic won her first title at the Linz event
and in effect secured a spot for herself in the final tournament of the season, the Tournament of Champions at Bali, where she defeated Alisa Kleybanova to clinch her second and last title of the year.
Ivanovic made her debut at the HC in 2006 alongside Djokovic. Excited about returning to the event; Ivanovic said, “I’m really happy to be back here. Novak has been asking me to come back ever since the first year we played here
and I'm really excited about the possibility of maybe getting further here. Last time (Jelena Jankovic and Djokovic) made the Final here and it's a great event to start the year. I really enjoy it and I'm really excited to have the first match."
Ivanovic plays her first match of 2011 against Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan. She will play her long time rival Justine Henin on Thursday. Ivanovic is looking forward to playing Henin. Driven for a better 2011, Ivanovic hopes
to defeat Henin for the first time in their sixth career meeting.
Ivanovic’s partner Djokovic will kick off 2011 playing Andrey Golubev. When asked about partnering Djokovic, Ivanovic said, "He is a joker and is a very nice guy. I've known him since before we started playing tennis so we've been
friends for a very long time. It's always enjoyable to catch up and here it's a mixed event and you get the chance to catch up and do some fun things. It's great to spend a few days with him and catch up. Actually last time we played here on New Year's Eve
he got on stage and sung, hopefully he won't embarrass me like that again."
With a relationship going back so far, the two are like a well-oiled machine. Having been the best Ivanovic believes she along with Djokovic can win one for Serbia this year.
Tags: