TENNIS Internazionali BNL d’Italia – A. Ivanovic d. C. Suarez Navarro 6-4, 3-6, 6-4. An interview with Ana Ivanovic.
Q:It was a very high quality match and tough as well…
ANA IVANOVIC: It was a very hard match from the first moment and I expected it because she’s a very good player on clay. There were a lot of long rallies, and a lot of battle, her balls come out and was a little bit heavy, but it suits me to hit winners. I was trying to find the good balance between the long rallies and try to come in and take the ball early but I was happy to remain tough in the 3rd set and prevail.
Q:It seems you’re growing a lot in this season
ANA IVANOVIC: Definitely, not only in court but where I am at in my career. I feel very content, I enjoy completion and try to enjoy the battle. Having won a lot of matches helped me a lot.
Q:How much winning a tournament in the first weeks of the years affect the whole season.
ANA IVANOVIC: I could have had a big season even without winning it, but to do it gave me confidence to be able to back myself up, psychologically, that helped me a lot to believe it more.
Q:How long did it take you emotionally to recover from the great win of yesterday?
ANA IVANOVIC: It works hard in those moments. I want to enjoy it and then put them behind me. I had nice time with my team, a little bit of wine, and try to relax and have a good night because the tournament isn’t over and it comes the tough one today. So just try to focus on that, recover and try to think like I said…this moment are very precious but in tennis the next match is always a new story.
Q:About Wimbledon…I think since 2007 you never got through the 4th round. Why?
ANA IVANOVIC: I actually thinks grass court suits my game, but is a matter of confidence because on grass everything happens so fast and you really have to be confident, you have to take risk. I like grass, I like the atmosphere there, and I really hope to put them together.
Q:You might face Serena tomorrow in a rematch of Australia…
ANA IVANOVIC: I think it’s a different match on a different surface. Between clay and hard there’s a big difference. Both of us have clear style of game and it depends on the surface but it’ll be a tough match. She has won a lot of tournaments on clay and she’s good on any surface but it’s always challenging to face such a good player, she has done a lot for women tennis.
