Back to Square One: The Ana Ivanovic Thread 2

[ylle41]

fellow Anatards, fans and supporters this is our new home.

Welcome to the 2nd thread of Ana Ivanovic.

[Poli]

[ylle41]

new home, new life and new hope right?

[imogen]

Oo nga! Iniwan na natin ang mga luha sa kabilang thread. ANG DRAMA! hahaha!

[imogen]

YIHEE!!!!!

Ana making the moves on Rafa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0FK-...layer_embedded

[Poli]

imogen do you post at WTA World/tennisforum?

[imogen]

imogen do you post at WTA World/tennisforum?

hmmm... i don't think so

[monsterboy]

Oo nga! Iniwan na natin ang mga luha sa kabilang thread. ANG DRAMA! hahaha!

Panalo ka talaga boss.

[americus]

presser:

honestly... HONESTY is the best policy - go ana!

-thought we're gonna be hearing d same answer (na naman) tulad ng ibang presser ni ana pero this one is different.. may bago.. hehe.. tamang tama sa new thread natin..

Q. Tough one, Ana?

ANA IVANOVIC: Definitely. I created a lot of chances for myself, and I'm really disappointed that I made a few mistakes in the important moments and my forehand let me down on a few occasions and obviously it hurts.


Q. The forehand is usually the shot you can count on the most. You had some good looks in the tiebreaker?

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, I mean, definitely. I still can picture many of those. You know, 6‑5 in the third and deuce I believe and I had ‑‑ I played great and set myself up and made the mistake, in the net every time. It's a little frustrating. And then on match point, maybe it was wrong shot. Also, a few times I think I made a wrong shot selection, as well.

Just also a little bit to do with confidence, just some of the shots I think weren't the right shots but were not really coming. That was really frustrating.


Q. How comfortable are you with your shortened service motion?

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, well, another reason I did that was to protect my shoulder, because I started having some pains, so that's why I abbreviated the motion. I feel a lot better and I think my speed has gone up. Last couple of tournaments I used this motion and I feel a lot better, actually, a lot more safe with my serve. And then obviously my shoulder didn't ‑‑ I didn't feel any problems with it.

I could serve faster, but it's been only a few weeks. But, you know, maybe once my shoulder gets stronger again, I can go back to the normal movement.


Q. With a different motion on your serve, doesn't that throw a different element into your toss?

ANA IVANOVIC: Well, actually, it helps my toss, because it's abbreviated, so then I feel like I can control it much more. It's coming smoother rather than, you know, having lots of different like aspects of the serve. So I think my toss has become a lot better with this new movement.


Q. What's difficult about the toss, anyway? Seems not to be a difficult part of the game.

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, serve should be the easiest part, because the only shot you control completely. Yeah, it's ‑‑ I think it just ‑‑ it's very hard to describe, because what happens is that sometimes when I toss, I either release too early or I flick it and I release too late. It's just so hard to describe. It's like, you know, I tried also to do exercises with heavier ball so I get more feel for it. I mean now it's feeling better so I worked on that.


Q. Is it possible you could be thinking about it too much?

ANA IVANOVIC: Well, I think I've been thinking about everything too much and trying to address lots of issues with my game, and at the moment I feel like I have a plan in place and I know what I have to do in each area of my game. But just at the moment I think it's a little disbalanced. My fitness is at one level, mind at another, my game is at another level. I think these all these things have to marry to get into the right direction and have to fit.


Q. You had a very stable group around you for a while, and then a lot changed this year. Along with your results, is it hard for you sometimes not to just close your eyes and say, I wish it was January 1st? Because this season has been so difficult.

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, I do. I do many times. I wish that.

But, you know, I think it's been, you know, as much as it hurts and was disappointing, you know, times so far, I feel I learned a lot from it. I learned a lot about myself and you know, people around me and about what I have to do and in order to become a better player, because there was a point that, you know, I really trusted the team around me, so I didn't question many things that were happening.

Many times, you know, I didn't know why I was doing certain things. So now we have, with the changes that happened, I'm more aware of certain things and more aware of the things that helped me get better. That's obviously really good things.

Now I know for myself what's going to help me to improve, and you know, what kind of work it's going to help me, rather than just rely 100% on a coach, because many times they can't feel ‑‑ all the time they can't feel what I feel. That's one thing that I feel I learned in last month or two.


Q. You played a terrific defense, I think. You showed a lot of spirit, especially when you were going down in the third set. You were 1‑4. You lost two serves. Suddenly you become the underdog and you play great. Is it maybe in your mind that when you're down you're very, very strong and suddenly you lose your mind when you are...

ANA IVANOVIC: I don't think it was that. I think it was just that in some way I accepted her game, and I stopped stepping up in the second set in the middle of the second set and she started playing a lot better. And, yeah, she just started to play her game rather than, you know, me stepping up like I did in the beginning. You know, I tried to change that momentum.

Yeah, I know I managed to do it towards the end of the third set, and you know, like I said, I just feel that my mind and my body and everything, it's not on the same level. I was really fighting. I felt like that was something that I had, and just, you know, to fight until the last moment, and you know, my forehand in my game let me down a little.

But I think it has also to do with the confidence, because many times when I'm in a position, I just don't trust myself like I did before, because, yeah, I just ‑‑ I didn't go through that kind of situations, you know.


Q. Is it maybe the mind fighting the instincts?

ANA IVANOVIC: It is that, you know, a little bit, too. When I follow my instincts, I play great. Then I think I can make other shots and I feel maybe I should go different, different direction. That's when bad shot selection comes. That's just, you know, mind and emotions.


Q. I remember one moment you win the French Open and they tell you you're No. 1 and you say, I didn't even know that. Is it maybe that suddenly the mind came in and resisted to move from there and the instinct went down, maybe?

ANA IVANOVIC: It's hard to say. Maybe. But, yeah, I don't really know. I think it's just that when I start to ‑‑ when I start to not maybe have the results that's expected I was going to have, that's when my mind games play. That's when I started to think and analyze about everything that's been happening and trying to, you know, fix something that maybe it wasn't broken. It was just, you know, not there for a while. And I had to keep doing the same thing.

But I tried to go different directions and tried to search for it elsewhere. And that's when I feel like I went on a little, forcing, trying to change technique and some kind of areas of my game that were not necessary to do so.

So now I'm really back to basics and back to what I was doing. It feels a lot better. I mean, I'm practicing really good. I'm really happy. I just feel I need some time and I need some time of hard work. Because it's really hard, you know, two sessions a day and work real really hard when you have all the time tournaments and competition coming, because you want to be fresh for your matches.

So that was a little bit of a Catch‑22. Maybe, you know, at this moment I can use these weeks that I have before maybe next tournament to work on some areas and rest and, you know, have fresh mind.


Q. How surprised were you though that as good as you've been and as good as you can be that you go to the end of the US Open and you look at your Grand Slam results this year and they're clearly below the level that you're capable of playing?

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, it's very disappointing. You know, it hurts. I can tell you that.

You know, I'm sure I will have sleepless nights. But I have to accept it and try to put this year behind me, and try to learn from it. I'm sure next time, you know, I have no doubt I have potential now to be back in the top. And once I get there, you know, you struggle few tournaments. I know that this is the time. True it's going to help me catch myself a lot earlier and not let myself, you know, go this far.


Q. With all you've been through, do you sometimes feel older than 21?

ANA IVANOVIC: Yes. Yeah, definitely. Yeah, sometimes I have to think how old I am. Yeah, definitely.


Q. About how old do you feel right now?

ANA IVANOVIC: 25 maybe (laughter.)


Q. That's not so bad.

ANA IVANOVIC: And probably in a few days I will look like that with bags under my eyes.


Q. There are so many highs and lows in that match. How do you keep your emotions in check in a match like that?

ANA IVANOVIC: Oh, did I? I didn't think I did. They were all over the place.


Q. What do you tell yourself to keep them in check, anyway?

ANA IVANOVIC: I try to breathe. Yeah, I try to take a deep breath and just, you know, try to maybe, you know, walk, just play with the strings or fix the hair or something. Try to, yeah, focus.


Q. Distract yourself a little?

ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, exactly.


Q. So you're going to take a long vacation or are you just going to work, work, work again?

ANA IVANOVIC: I honestly don't know. I really don't know. I have to think about some things first on my own and then with the team and discuss and see what's going to be the best.

Obviously I'm very, you know, motivated to get back in the top, but it just feels like I was saying it just feels like Catch‑22, because I constantly playing and trying to play at the level that I feel I'm not at. It's disappointing and it's frustrating, so I just want to get a time and work hard on like all the match, off competition.


Q. You haven't had a substantial break in a long time, right? You've been either rehabbing or practicing.

ANA IVANOVIC: Exactly.


Q. Or playing.

ANA IVANOVIC: Exactly. That's something that I spoke actually today. Today actually before my match I spoke to my coach, because I just said, you know, I feel like I constantly kept going and going. It's really hard, because even though I had some time off, I was still doing like a little bit of fitness or rehab or something. So my mind was still in tennis.

I feel like I want to have ‑‑ I feel happy that, you know, this season, it's going to be a longer off season so I have longer time off and completely switch off and, you know, I haven't had proper holidays in years. So I'm looking forward to that.

[cris_]

hello new thread! wuy, tards gawa ni tuned_in yung..yung.. yung picture. nice tard!! HOPE - love it. naalala ko lang si obama.


ana's back to square one. and so are we. rock bottom na to right? sana.

[cris_]

YIHEE!!!!!

Ana making the moves on Rafa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0FK-...layer_embedded

ana's bending and snapping.

americus, yes..she said it all didn't she. it was somehow comforting to hear her address her issues like that.

You know, I'm sure I will have sleepless nights. But I have to accept it and try to put this year behind me, and try to learn from it. I'm sure next time, you know, I have no doubt I have potential now to be back in the top. And once I get there, you know, you struggle few tournaments. I know that this is the time. True it's going to help me catch myself a lot earlier and not let myself, you know, go this far.

oh ana..sigh. smile na lang.

[tennis_freak]

ahhhh! grabe, engot attack ako, it took me quite some time to find our new thread, perhaps nanlabo na ng tuluyan mga mata ko, i think too much misery can do that, nyahahaha, ang drama

wow! ylle41, thread starter

tuned_in! gawa mo *** pic? really, really nice! *clap*clap*...HOPE. we.need. *sigh!*

nag BR ako old thread...i can feel every inch of frustration, disappointment, sadness...what a way to end the thread huh?! wud luv to rant wd u guys kanina, was running late lang...*hugs*

hay! enuf, enuf...moving on...penge ngang HOPE pill

imogen rafana vid *click,open,save*...pambawas ng lungkot

[Poli]

Audio snippet of Ana's post-match interview.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/tennis/8233228.stm

[carlhiro]

congrats sa new thread Anatards!

[tuned_in]

hello tards, pardon this one post if you will. ano kasi, i left right after the match and gawa na new thread when i came back.

ana just lost on a 1st round of a grand slam, i'm not ready to move on. yet. pasensya na. ouch factor keeps coming back especially when im reminded of the 3rd set when ana was down 1-4 and was able to eventually bring it to a tie break only to crumble in the end. it was like being in a roller coaster ride with your seat being detached from the tracks while in the middle of the highest loop and you fall down and your organs splatter all over the place. in short, i dieeeeed . tards if you still feel like ranting or venting out here, let it out lang. shitty times like these, its more than ok to mope. kahit sandali lang, like mga 48 hours

anyway. i'd like to think this is rock bottom ye, probably even past rock bottom pa. anything worse than this, i dont know how else we could take it. and moreso, how else ana could deal with it. what’s dreadful is the fact there are still 2 tourneys she’ll be playing in. how’s she gonna win when she has no motivation left + she’s obviously over this season. we dont want any more heartbreaks. wala, at this point i just want her to do what will make her happy. clear her mind of all the negativity na dinala nitong season. and see a sports psychiatrist like what everybody else is saying. about her team, pfft, i wish she’d get out of the adidas bunny ranch and get a frigging full time coach(!!!!) obviously the attention of the adidas people are gonna be divided with the hoards of players they’re looking after. and at this stage what ana needs is someone who'd give their full time attention to help her out. she cant do it on her own. back to basics/square one, so she needs to learn how to listen and be patient.

her presser kinda made me feel a little bit better about the match. it took this one bad loss to make her finally admit and address her issues in public. no more sugar coated generic ramblings na paulit ulit lang. acceptance is the first step, so sana nga, it’s a first step to something good.

[tuned_in]

hi carl! i saw what you tweeted, about atleast ana's not defending any uso points next year. hehe atleast!

cris, doc, americus salamat!

uy ito pala yung post count sa last thread. top 20 nalang, haba nung list e haha

tuned_in 842
raine18 642
americus 503
cris_ 399
rein_kar_nation 351
tennis_freak 341
mantao 324
imogen 234
Queen_Bee 134
bent_33 132
Ashlars 106
ylle41 103
sarahtancredi 78
yeomyung! 59
carlhiro 59
minjinstupid 54
KuyaDanny 47
governor_nathan 34
choco4me 33
3leggedFreak 30
aLuIdPy 27

rkn, ate raine where art thou!

morning all

[imogen]

huwaw! pasok pa ko sa top 8!

[carlhiro]

hi carl! i saw what you tweeted, about atleast ana's not defending any uso points next year. hehe atleast!

Haha. Mr. Brightside FTW. Nakakatuwa nga at ina-RT ako ni C Note. Pangalawang beses na to.

Teka: ano url ng twitter mo?

[imogen]

Haha. Mr. Brightside FTW. Nakakatuwa nga at ina-RT ako ni C Note. Pangalawang beses na to.

Teka: ano url ng twitter mo?

uy onga carlhiro, ano twitter mo? twitter friends na kami ng ibang mga vekla dito

[carlhiro]

uy onga carlhiro, ano twitter mo? twitter friends na kami ng ibang mga vekla dito

ako nga si @drmcmuffin. Yung ni-RT ni C Note about bright side of Ana's loss.