Ivanovic aims for balance

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:13

Ivanovic, 21, reached the Australian Open final, won her first slam at Roland Garros and was world number one for 12 weeks during the summer.

“It was a very exciting experience and the greatest of my career so far but also some tough times as well towards the end of the year,” Ivanovic said on Monday during a conference call to promote a March 2 exhibition tournament at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Having been propelled into the limelight and after adjusting to her higher profile on the WTA Tour, Ivanovic then succumbed to a right thumb injury that curtailed her season considerably and forced her to withdraw from the Olympics in Beijing.

Learning to cope with both, the Serbian said last night from Melbourne as she prepares for the 2009 Australian Open, was one of her biggest challenges.

“Getting used to everything was an education for me,” Ivanovic continued.

“I think I learned a lot from last year, about myself and about my game and that’s something I can definitely make a positive for this year. Some of the mistakes I made I won’t them again.

“After I got injured I should have taken some time off but I was thinking about tennis 24 hours a day – (asking myself) what did I do wrong, why everything was not going my way – I was kind of obsessed with tennis. I needed to relax and take some time away from tennis.

“Once I started competing again I was drained because even the times I couldn’t practice, my mind was still thinking about tennis.

“That’s something I don’t want to happen (again) because I was using up a lot of energy.”

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