Serbian Tennis Players Struggle - Ivanovic, Jankovic and Djokovic
In 2008, Serbian tennis players, Ana Ivanovic and Jelena Jankovic, were two of the leading stars in women’s tennis. At the same time, Novak Djokovic established himself on the short list of contenders for a Grand Slam title with Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Ivanovic captured the 2008 French Open while Jankovic reached the U.S. Open final and garnered the Number One ranking. On the men’s side, Djokovic won the 2008 Australian
Open and year-end ATP Masters Cup Shanghai. However, 2009 has been a different story so far… Ivanovic, who struggled in 2008 after winning the title at Roland Garros, has not won a title since winning the French Open last year. Under new coach, Craig Kardon, Ivanovic reached the finals in Indian Wells, but was upset again in Key Biscayne. Jelena Jankovic, who lost her first match at Key Biscayne, has also not won a title yet in 2009. Meanwhile, Djokovic seems to have had trouble finding his old rhythm with his new Head racket since the beginning of 2009. Novak finally won his first title of the year at Dubai a couple weeks ago. For all three of these talented Serbs, the subtle difference seems to be a lack of confidence compared to when they played their best tennis last year. Tennis has become very popular in Serbia as a result of the incredible success that these three players have had the past couple years. Djokovic’s family is now staging an ATP tournament in May and Ivanovic’s team is working on bringing a WTA tournament to Serbia as well. The real question now is whether Ivanovic, Jankovic and Djokovic can maintain their spots near the very top of the game given the fact that they’ve already achieved fame and fortune.
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