The B92 television feature, which was posted yesterday, also includes an interview with Dejan Vranes, Ana's childhood coach and the current Serbian Fed Cup captain.
The following is a translated extract from the interview:
Biljana Sesevic: Dejan, how was your first meeting with Ana and when was it?
Dejan Vranes: I started working with Ana when she was eleven-and-a-half, it was in “As (Ace)” tennis club. I worked with a group of four, so up to the time when she turned 14 and got her first sponsor, she worked within that group with me. Then, a much more professional co-operation started: we worked one-on-one, I followed her to tournaments and worked only with her. It produced results.
BS: How was Ana different from other children?
DV: Well, Ana was certainly talented, no question about it, but what I would highlight about Ana is that she was very determined from a very young age and she had a clear goal about what she wanted in life: it was professional tennis and the goal she made at 13 to become world No.1 was very clear. Today, if you ask many children, they would say their goal is to be the best in the world, to be professional players. However, I am sure that very few are ready to do everything to reach that goal.
BS: You were with her when she was making her way to becoming a professional player. Was it ever the case happen that she slackened, dwelled, that it was hard indeed?
DV: The turning point was when we started working professionally one-on-one, when she changed the group regime practice to individual work of four hours a day plus conditioning, so it was extremely tough to get used to it, especially physically. I can say that there were tough moments but she never slackened or wanted to quit, although that was an option.
BS: How were her appearances in junior tournaments? Wins, losses…how did she handle all of that?
DV: Well, you see, there was everything: wins, losses, tough matches, matches that should have been won but lost…There was everything, but the most important thing in the end is that she successfully passed through junior tennis, that she had an extremely fast transition from juniors to professionals.
BS: Our supporters became spoiled. Recently, we didn’t have a Top 100 player and now when they are out of Top 10, there are negative comments, such as psychological problems, this and that…But what is the reason why she fell on the [ranking] list and what is necessary for her to come back to the old form?
DV: Bad form is typical for normal circumstances, when players work and feel well, but when someone is so unlucky with injuries like Ana in the previous year-and-a-half, not to come into what and how she did, I think it is a normal thing. Concerning people and the media being spoiled, I have observed that. I try to speak to the press in order to make those comments and headlines more moderate, because one should bear in mind that we didn’t have a Top 200 player up till recently, and when we talk about women’s tennis, even since the old Yugoslavia and Monica Seles, who didn’t grow up here, we didn’t have any results.
BS: When you began working with her, did you think that it was possible that she would make such global success in tennis?
DV: When we used to be working in a group, Ana was only one talented child who was hard-working, obedient and assertive…I couldn’t say I noticed something that would lead her to emerge from the group. However, when we started working together, after a year, her game was extremely good, on a high level, and so I believed that she could make good results in women’s tennis.
BS: She certainly had a different childhood compared to her own generation. She must have denied herself many things in order to come each day to practices, train the whole day. How was it?
DV: Well, the life of a professional athlete is certainly connected to many sacrifices, especially for tennis players. Ana sacrificed a lot, virtually her private life – what her friends had, she didn’t. We went from tournament to tournament, there were no goings out. Going to bed at 11pm, there was no going out late, at least to my knowledge, maybe for a New Year’s Eve or on similar occasions, so surely many sacrifices, but Ana endured. She still lives quite professionally, without parties, nights out…
BS: Okay, but it paid off in the end and that’s why she is where she is. What is it that a player needs to have to achieve huge success in tennis?
DV: Aside from luck and talent that one must have for the sport, I think that perservance is the key factor.
BS: Have you met new potential stars, those who show the talent in order to achieve similar success to Ana, Jelena, Novak?
DV: Fortunately, we have always had talented children and let’s say potential professional players. I would point out that throughout these few years our players made a boom in world’s tennis, but the situation is still very bad, there is no place, actually a tennis center, where the players could practice, develop. The financial aspect is still very bad. Unfortunately, our most talented players such as Milojevic, Curovic and Krunic don’t have financial support and have troubles in making their way to professional tennis.
BS: So, you think the circumstances haven’t changed comparing to the time when Ana started and nowadays?
DV: My opinion is that the conditions didn’t change at all. Maybe it is easier today in the sense that children can see the world’s elite such as Ana, Jelena, Novak, Janko in Belgrade, but only that. I think nothing else changed, unfortunately.
