Ana has the consolation of a Mixed Doubles match, alongside Novak Djokovic, to look forward to after losing to Samantha Stosur in the Second Round of the Australian Open. Ana and Novak have been handed a wildcard and will play their First Round match on Sunday.
The teenage Serbians will face another young pairing, Russians Igor Andreev and Maria Kirilenko. The average age of the four players is just 19-and-a-half years, making Sunday's encounter one of the youngest Grand Slam Mixed Doubles matches of recent years.
Teenagers do love their sleep. The 11am start appeared to do Ana no favours as she failed to produce her best tennis on her way to a 6-3, 7-5 defeat to home favourite Samantha Stosur.
“She’s a terrific player,” said Ana. “She always plays well here and she played really good today. She didn’t give me time to get into a rhythm. I made way too many mistakes and my serve didn’t work at all.”
Ana’s Australian Open Second Round match against Samantha Stosur has been scheduled as the first match on Rod Laver Arena tomorrow at 11am local time (1am Central European Time). It will be Ana’s second appearance on RLA after she lost to Amelie Mauresmo on the same court in the Third Round last year.
As ever, check this site shortly after the match is completed for an exclusive report and interview with Ana.
Samantha Stosur, a 21-year-old Australian, stands between Ana and a place in the third round of the Australian Open. Ana has never played Stosur before but is wary of the threat she will pose tomorrow.
“She’s a great player,” said Ana. “She’s doing very well in Australia. She’s on a home court and it will be a very hard match.
“She has a very good serve, she comes to the net a lot. I just want to improve my game. I want to serve better and move better and put her under pressure.”
Vintage Ana it was not, but the 21st seed is safely through to the second round of the Australian Open. In a mixed bag of a performance Ana won 6-4, 6-4 to set up a meeting with home favourite Samantha Stosur.
“It was actually pretty hard to play,” said Ana. “The first match is always very, very hard. Usually you start a little bit nervous. And she’s a great player. She didn’t give me much rhythm.”
Ana’s first round Australian Open clash with Shenay Perry has been scheduled as the second match on Show Court Three tomorrow (Tuesday). It follows the men’s singles match between Luis Horna and Gael Monfils and is expected to start sometime after 1pm local time (3am Central European Time).
Ana was one of six Sony Ericsson WTA Tour players to take time out from their Australian Open preparations to star in a new advertising campaign for sponsors Whirlpool.
Whirlpool, premier sponsor of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, are using the players for a pan-European print advertising campaign to promote the innovative, award-winning Prêt-à-porter. Launched in 2005, Prêt-à-porter is “an appliance that refreshes and revitalises clothes in minutes thanks to the gentle power of steam.”
Ana will begin her Australian Open campaign on Tuesday. The women’s top half of the draw will be played on Monday, with the bottom half scheduled to take place on Tuesday.
Ana faces world no.130 Shenay Perry of the United States.
Ana has slipped one place in the Sony Ericsson WTA ranking list of 16 January. Though she reached the quarter-finals of Sydney last week the Tour’s rolling 52-week ranking system sees the Serbian drop to 22. Ana swaps places with German Anna-Lena Groenefeld.
Ana has been drawn to face world no.130 Shenay Perry in the first round of the Australian Open, which begins here on Monday. The pair have never played before.
Should Ana overcome the 21-year-old American, who has won just four grand slam matches in her career, she will face the winner of the match between local favourite Samantha Stosur and Frenchwoman Severine Bremond (née Beltrame) in the second round.
