TENNIS WTA Stuttgart – Ivanovic d Görges 1-6, 6-2, 6-3. An interview with Ana Ivanovic
A very different match today?
Yes, definitely. She’s a very good player and very striky. She started off so well. I didn’t feel I did many things wrong in that first set. She was just playing really good. I don’t think she had any unforced errors to be honest and a lot of winners. So, I really tried to stay positive and calm to wait for my moment to turn it around. I had the opportunity early in the second set. I played a really good game to break her and then manage to hold my serve and that a little bit set the tone of the second set. So, I was very pleased with that.
You mentioned after your first-round match that you have in your mind a game plan and then you try and stick to it. Did you have to change the game plan a lot today?
Not really actually. It was just a matter of being persistent. When I called my coach during the first set he said the same thing ‘you have to keep calm and you have to wait for your opportunity.’ There were little adjustments to the plan but still I stuck to it and it worked
Julia said that in the first set she had the flow on her side and then that changed to your side. Is that your feeling, too, or did you improve your game?
Yes, definitely. I think a few errors creeped in her game and I think I used that really well. Like I said, in the first set she didn’t really give me much. Even though when I felt that I did a good service game she still was on top of it and she was making unbelievable returns. So, to use that momentum and in the third set I kept going and I was aggressive and I was taking risks as well. So it paid off.
Next match against Kuznetsova. She’s a completely different player. What can you expect?
I mean I played her just at the weekend when I played Fed Cup in Romania. Obviously that is fresh in my mind. Svetlana also used to train a lot in Spain. She loves clay. She’s a really good competitor. So, it’s going to be a very tough match, very different. I’m going to watch a little bit of that later on and then prepare with my coach. But I think still it’s going to be key to focus on my key.
How do you prepare?
We go over the opponent’s game a little bit and what I can expect and then over my game, what I have to do in order to put them under pressure. Or there is probably a weakness in their game and also strengths in my game.
Do you look at the statistics?
No, not too often. Only when something is really catching you in the eye. Other than that not so much.
You mentioned last time the way you make your preparation with the Serbian team and the mentality. Did you do this kind of assessment and planning with Nigel before?
You know with every coach you do that kind of thing before every match. You go over the tactics a little bit. But I don’t think I went into that much depth like we go now and obviously it also depends on the player. With some players we prepare a little more, with some a little less. It also depends on the player and what they can do. But then also with my coach I try to also explain the type of the game I want to emphasize. Then he tries to understand that a little more. So, we spend more time also talking about my game.
