Biography of Ana Ivanovic

Ana Schweinsteiger . Professionally known by her birth name Ana Ivanovic. Is a Serbian retired professional tennis player. She was ranked No 1 in the world in 2008. After she had defeated Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open. And held the top ranking for a total of 12 weeks. She was also the runner-up at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, losing to Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova respectively. She qualified for the annual WTA Tour Championships three times, in 2007, 2008 and 2014 and won the year-end WTA Tournament of Champions twice, in 2010 and 2011. Competing as a professional from 2003 until 2016, Ivanovic won 15 WTA Tour singles titles, and one Grand Slam singles title, the French Open in 2008. Additionally during this time, she earned over $15.5 million in prize money, which is the 25th highest in the all-time rankings. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by Time and was also included on the list of "Top 100 Greatest Players Ever" by reporter Matthew Cronin. Her first breakthrough came at the 2004 Zurich Open, where she qualified and was narrowly beaten by Venus Williams in the second round in two tiebreak sets. By the age of 18, Ivanovic had already defeated established players such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva and AmÃ©lie Mauresmo. She also defeated many other past and present top 5 players throughout her career including Sharapova, Safina, Venus and Serena Williams, Martina Hingis, Jelena JankoviÄ‡, Elena Dementieva, Daniela HantuchovÃ¡, Agnieszka RadwaÅ„ska, Caroline Wozniacki, Samantha Stosur, Francesca Schiavone, Petra KvitovÃ¡, Simona Halep, Angelique Kerber, Victoria Azarenka, Sara Errani, Eugenie Bouchard, Belinda Bencic, Elina Svitolina, and Sloane Stephens. Ivanovic was known for her aggressive style of play and impressive forehand, described by Petrova as "the best out there." Ivanovic's struggles after winning the 2008 French Open were well documented. After that victory, she was overwhelmed by attention and endured an ongoing period of reduced success, failing to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal in her subsequent 17 Grand Slam tournaments, and dropping as low as No. 65 in the rankings during July 2010. In 2014, Ivanovic enjoyed a resurgence, beginning with her victory in the Auckland Open, her first singles title in over two years, before going on to win the Monterrey Open, Aegon Classic and the Pan Pacific Open. She qualified for competition in the WTA Tour Championships and secured a year-end ranking of No. 5, signifying her return to the world's elite. In 2015, Ivanovic made it to the semifinals of a major for the first time in seven years at the French Open. In late December 2016, she announced her retirement, citing being no longer able to perform to a high standard as a major factor.