Ivanovic Changes Coaches In An Attempt To Raise Her Ranking

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 2nd August 2013

Ivanovic Changes Coaches In An Attempt To Raise Her Ranking

epa03760846 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia facing defeat at the hands of Eugenie Bouchard of Canada during their second round match for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 26 June 2013. EPA/TOM HEVEZI |

Ana Ivanovic’s decision to part with experienced British coach Nigel Sears took many by surprise at Wimbledon but the former world no.1 and French Open champion, still determined to recapture a place among the female elite in the game after being outside the WTA top ten for nearly five years, maintained a change was needed.

Ivanovic, currently ranked world no.17 lost in Wimbledon’s second round to the emergent Canadian youngster Eugenie Bouchard. Previously she exited the French Open at the fourth round stage to world no.4 Agnieszka Radwanska and her last title on the WTA came in late 2011 in Bali.

Ivanovic spent two years being coached by Sears, who formerly worked with Amanda Coetzer and Daniela Hantuchova and immediately prior to linking up with the Serb was in charge of Women’s Tennis at the British Lawn Tennis Association.

“That was big change, but I really felt like I needed it because it was good, but I was stuck in the same place and I really needed to make a transition and I needed to hear a fresh voice,” said Ivanovic. “It was a big change and tough decision but it came both ways.”

Later today Ivanovic will face Roberta Vinci of Italy in the quarterfinals of the Southern California Open at Carlsbad and she is currently traveling with her hitting partner, Nemanja Konitc , her fitness coach Zlatko Novovic, and her physio, Branko Penic. When available she uses adidas Player Development coaches Sven Groeneveld and Darren Cahill.

She maintains no immediate plans to sign a replacement for Sears and said it was not the loss to Bouchard that prompted her decision. “It’s not a match in particular,” she said. “I was disappointed in the loss at Wimbledon, but it wasn’t that, it was over period of time and there were a lot of the same things and repetitions and it was good week, bad week and not getting me to where I wanted to. I felt like I needed to do something radical.”

Ivanovic is not a confrontational person and clearly found it difficult to fire a coach although Sears’ contract with the 25 year-old officially expired at Wimbledon. “It’s always two ways,” said Ivanovic, who beat defending Carlsbad champion Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round.

“You have your opinions and the other person his own and he wanted to get the best out of me and I’m sure it was frustrating for him that he couldn’t get me to do the things that he wanted. But sometimes you need a fresh voice and you need someone to influence you better. It was a mutual agreement.”