Serbian sensation
You know the girl knows what she wants when at just five-years-old, Ana Ivanovic saw a telephone number advertising a tennis clinic on tv, memorized it and begged her parents no end to put her into class.
Now 20, the Serbian represents a new breed of women’s tennis players promising to enthrall and entertain like how Billie Jean King and Martina Navratilova did in years gone by.
Nobody really remembers the losers in the final but for Ivanovic, it is probably a different tale.
Still nowhere near the peak of her career, Ivanovic has already played in three Grand Slam finals, losing to Justine Henin at the 2007 French Open and earlier this year at the Australian Open, Ivanovic lost to fellow charmer Maria Sharapova in Melbourne.
Her French Open win this year not only made her Serbia's first ever female Grand Slam champion but also took her to the world no 1 spot.
And like Sharapova, Ivanovic is another marketer’s dreamboat. Blessed with sweet girl-next-door good looks, Ivanovic is not short of suitors eager to bolster a bank account that is already a hair short of the US$5 million mark.
While she is now a household name, the world only really started to take notice in 2005 when Ivanovic saw off big guns like Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, and Vera Zvonareva, all of whom who were ranked in the top 10 then. By the end of that year, she had also beaten Amelie Mauresmo in the third round of the French Open and vowed to break into the top 10 by the end of 2006.
For her feats, she was voted the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Most Improved Player in 2005 and if that was not enough, she claimed the same prize again in 2007.
Outside the court, Ivanovic’s pleasant demeanor also won her positions such as UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia. She was also nominated for U.S. Secretary of State's 2007 International Women of Courage Award.
Residence: Basel, Switzerland
Date of Birth: November 6, 1987
Birthplace: Belgrade, Serbia
Height: 6'1 (1.86 m)
Weight: 152 lbs. (69 kg)
Plays: Right-handed (two-handed backhand)
Status: Pro (August 2003)
