Ana Ivanovic pulls out of opening singles against Croatia in Fed Cup

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Serbia’s top-ranked player Ana Ivanovic pulled out of the opening singles of the Fed Cup tie against Croatia on Saturday with a viral infection.She was replaced by Ana Jovanovic, who played the opening singles against Croatia’s Jelena Kostanic-Tosic.

It was unclear wheter Ivanovic would be fit for the second day of the playoffs on Sunday.

Serbia came into the weekend as the heavy favorite to advance to the Fed Cup world group, in a tie between two former Yugoslav nations that fought a bitter ethnic war in the early 1990s.

Serbia’s No. 2 Jelena Jankovic played Nika Ozegovic in the second singles on Saturday.

Ivanovic ready to win the big one

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Two years ago, well before she became a Grand Slam threat and the highest-ranked athlete on FHM’s 2008 Sexiest Women in the World poll (take that, Maria Sharapova), Ana Ivanovic could afford to dream an unknown 18-year-old’s bold dreams and say that some day, she’d love to play mixed doubles with top-ranked Roger Federer.

But now the Serbian can no longer afford to have a silly schoolgirl’s thoughts as the world’s No. 2-ranked player and with one of her close childhood friends, third-ranked Novak Djokovic, becoming Federer’s most in-your-face rival.

Playing with Ivanovic is likely unthinkable for Federer, who in Monte Carlo, screamed at Djokovic’s parents to be quiet while he was beating down their outspoken son — the same man who toppled him at the Australian Open and whose mother, Dijina, told FOXSports.com shortly afterward that Federer, the king, was dead.

Ivanovic is not the queen of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour yet, so no one has their sights directly set on her throne. But the attractive brunette is a striking princess in waiting and one who doesn’t want to wait much longer to reach the top.

After taking six weeks off, the defending champion will make her first tour appearance in Berlin this week and Ivanovic can no longer afford to go about her business quietly. She has a ton of points to defend between Germany and the L.A. tournament in late July, including the Berlin crown, the French Open final, the Wimbledon semifinals and the L.A. title.

Ivanovic commits to Rogers Cup

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Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, the No. 2 player in the world, is the first confirmed entry in this year’s Rogers Cup women’s tennis tournament in Montreal.”I had such a nice time there two years ago. I’m excited to see the fans again,” Ivanovic, the 2006 champion, said via conference call Wednesday. “Against Martina [Hingis, in the 2006 final], I played perfect tennis . . . I enjoyed every moment of it.”

The tournament has been plagued by a series of high-profile withdrawals in recent years. In 2006, the last time the event was held in Montreal, Justine Henin, Maria Sharapova, Amelie Mauresmo and Venus Williams were among 11 players to pull out.

Last year in Toronto, it was almost as bad. Venus, Mauresmo, Vaidisova, Sharapova, Sania Mirza and Hingis were the more notable no-shows.

“They were still very strong fields, with lots of top players,” said Ivanovic, who has competed as promised in the last three editions. “It’s very hard to predict these things, because the season is quite tough. And it comes so close to the big block with the French Open and Wimbledon.”

This year the women’s tournament will be held July 26 to Aug. 3 - two weeks early because of the Olympics.

Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic – the spice girls of tennis

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Tennis has always been a sport in which spectators are able to ‘eye up’ their favourite stars. Growing up as a tennis fan since the late ’80s and being a teenager when the Anna Kournikova era began, I can fully appreciate why certain people think the glamorous side of women’s tennis can be detrimental to the game.

To get a glimpse of Anna’s knickers and sexy legs would be the only reason for my mates watching the sport, but isn’t that a good thing? Isn’t it good that some tennis players attract new fans to the game?

Back in the ’70s the likes of Chris Evert caused a stir by being a firm favourite with the men. She was every man’s fantasy. Martina Navratilova was different and was liked because of her story of rags to riches and her ability on the court throughout her career.

I feel it is good to have a mixture of players, some pretty and some not so. Different people are fans of the sport for different reasons and glamour should be promoted on the WTA tour.

The lack of support for some women’s sports such as football and cricket enhances the need for glamour. Men are put off watching these women play football and cricket due to the lack of lipstick and shapely legs.

Many women in these sports are thought of as ‘butch’ and ‘masculine’ and tennis enables women sports stars to counteract this theory. The likes of Maria Sharapova, Sabine Appelmans and Ana Ivanovic are attractive, but there are just as many unglamorous players who still make a living from the sport because of their ability to play good tennis.

Is it really wrong to punish glamorous girls just because they happen to be attractive to the opposite sex? Glamour sells the sport. If the girls covered up and dressed down then women’s tennis would be far less entertaining and far less attrative to watch.

Ivanovic up to second in women’s tennis rankings

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Australian Open runner-up Ana Ivanovic has reached a career-high second in the ATP world rankings behind Justine Henin of Belgium.The 20-year-old Serb moves clear of Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia with her Serbian compatriot Jelena Jankovic staying in fourth and the winner in Melbourne, Maria Sharapova, remaining at fifth.

Venus Williams meanwhile moves back ahead of younger sister Serena standing four places ahead at sixth.

Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova to meet in dream finale

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Ana Ivanovic will meet Maria Sharapova in what must be the most glamorous grand-slam final in history. The women, who are just as used to walking out on the catwalk as the tennis court, face each other in the Australian Open final on Saturday.

Even the harshest male critics of the women’s game could be tempted to tune in - making this event a sponsor’s dream.

Ivanovic produced a stirring comeback from a set down to overcome Daniela Hantuchova 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 while Sharapova beat injured Serbian third seed Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 6-1 in their respective semi-finals.

“I had to calm down for today’s victory,” Ivanovic, said. “[Hantuchova’s] a tough player. I had to go for my shots early in the rally and it was frustrating because I couldn’t make any.”

The Serbian expects an equally tough test in the final, adding: “Maria’s had a great tournament and beaten Justine [Henin] so it’s going to be very tough.”

Sharapova, a losing finalist last year, has been totally dominant throughout the tournament and had no problems dispatching Jankovic.

“I’m really happy I got through and I’m back in the final,” said the Russian 20-year-old. “I had the experience going into last year’s final and it didn’t turn out too good.

“I’m just glad that I’ve been able to play such good tennis and I hope I can continue that for another match.”

Ivanovic heading to Sydney International

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Serbian world No.4 Ana Ivanovic is the first of the big-name women to confirm they’re coming to the Sydney International tournament in January.

The 19-year-old French Open finalist will return to the Australian Open warm-up event where this year she reached the quarter-finals to begin a breakthrough 2007.

“We are thrilled that Ana has decided to play here,” tournament director Craig Watson said.

“She is a tremendous young player and we got a glimpse of that at the last Medibank International.

“It tremendous for women’s tennis to see the way she has really burst onto the scene this year.

“She is young and fresh and a great ambassador for the sport. Tennis fans are going to be enchanted by her.”

Armed with a lethal forehand, Ivanovic beat world No.3 Svetlana Kuznetsova and world No.2 Maria Sharapova en route to the final of the French Open against Justine Henin in June.

Ana Ivanovic aims at No. 1 after starting tennis in empty swimming pool

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the early challenge for Ana Ivanovic was to avoid crashing into the walls of an empty Belgrade swimming pool where she played tennis at five. Now, her goal is to reach the No. 1 ranking.The 19-year-old is the youngest of a Serbian trio - including Jelena Jankovic and Novak Djokovic - who are ranked in the top 10 and excelled at the French Open, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“My career, especially the last couple of months, has been amazing,” Ivanovic said in an interview with The Associated Press. “I got a lot of confidence beating a lot of top players, this is the best time of my career so far.”

Ivanovic is the first Serbian woman to reach a Grand Slam final at Roland Garros since Monica Seles - who became a U.S. citizen at the peak of her career in the 1990s. At Wimbledon, Ivanovic lost to eventual champion Venus Williams in the semifinals.

She matched her previous top U.S. Open performance by reaching the quarter-finals, where she again lost to Venus Williams.

“My goal is to be No. 1 and to win Grand Slams,” Ivanovic said. “There are many other players who want the same thing, but I’m on a good way to achieve it.”

Ivanovic, ranked No. 6, won in Berlin and Los Angeles this year. She has four career titles and earnings of US$2.7-million.

Ivanovic got her first taste of indoor tennis as a youngster at a New Belgrade neighbourhood. A sports club official drained an Olympic-size swimming pool in the winter and put down a green carpet and net.

Ivanovic said practising there, with the pool walls just 18 inches from the sidelines, helped her produce consistent down-the-line shots.

“It sure helped because the walls were so very close to the court that we couldn’t play crosscourts,” Ivanovic said. “We agreed not to serve and play toward the walls because that would be a finished point. We agreed to serve to the open court so we could at least play a rally.”

Growing up in war-ravaged Serbia, she travelled six hours by bus to neighbouring Hungary because it was impossible to get a visa out of Serbia for tournaments abroad.

Djokovic, a childhood friend of Ivanovic’s, also practised at the same club. He reached the U.S. Open final this month and lost to top-ranked Roger Federer. The 20-year-old Djokovic is ranked No. 3 after winning four titles this year.

The 22-year-old Jankovic, who reached the U.S. Open semifinals and is ranked No. 3, has won four of her five career titles this season.

So what makes the Serbs so strong?

“It is very difficult to find a reason for that,” Ivanovic said. “It’s just circumstances that all three of us came out at the same time. Maybe one of the reasons was that when one started doing good, it motivated the others to be even better. We kind of pulled each other on the way up.”

Ivanovic said she is coping with the fame that comes with moving into the top 10.

“Women’s tennis is turning to fashion and is involving celebrities,” Ivanovic said. “When people talk about my charm or looks it is very flattering. Of course, every woman likes compliments, but I don’t take them too seriously.”