Ana Ivanovic Wimbledon Blog: Pleasing victory / June 24, 2009

Ana Ivanovic Wimbledon Blog: Pleasing victory / June 24, 2009

Check out Ana Ivanovic’s latest blog from Wimbledon…

Pleasing victory / June 24, 2009
I’ve had a lot of tough, close matches in my career and yesterday’s was definitely one of them. It’s always extra satisfying to win a match when you have been match point down.

I’ve done it quite a few times in my career, and a few times here actually. The most important thing in this situation is to try and play without emotions. If you think, “I must win this point” or “I must break her here” then you are putting extra pressure on yourself and that’s never a good thing. Instead, you have to concentrate on your tactics: what you have to do technically to win the point.

At the same time, emotions can be a good thing, and they can actually help get you through a match like that. The crowd was great yesterday and I could really feel the energy around the court. That gave me extra motivation to keep fighting and it definitely helped me win the match.

My opponent, Lucie Hradecka, was playing extremely well. She wasn’t making many mistakes and she put me under a lot of pressure. To come through this kind of match is good for your confidence.

It doesn’t get any easier: my next opponent, Sara Errani, is very talented and she gave me a tough match in Paris last month. If I can improve in some of the areas I wasn’t so good in yesterday, such as my serve, then I am confident I can come through and really get into this tournament.

Love
Ana