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AEGON CLASSICJune 12, 2014Ana IvanovicBIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND A. IVANOVIC/L. Davis THE MODERATOR: Questions, please. Q. Very well done today. Seemed like you got off to a pretty quick start and never really looked back. ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, I think holding my serve in the first game was kind of important start as well. I just felt the ball really good. I timed it well. I knew she's a player who stays low in the grass and it can work well sometimes, so I really tried to stretch her and come forward. I did that well. I served pretty well. I got her out wide a lot and came in, hit some good volleys, which I was happy. And my coach, too. Q. Volleys were really good today. There was some flexing, stretching of the legs and sort of bending down. ANA IVANOVIC:  Oh, just trying to get moving and just to try to reinforce the movement forward. Because, you kit's easy to forget sometimes what have to do. Especially‑‑ if you're up with the break or something. So I really tried to remind myself I still have to be aggressive and still move. Q. You were standing very far in on her second serve. Again, just the aggressive stance. Are we going to see a lot more aggressive Ana? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, definitely. Especially on the grass I think it's important. I was talking before, and grass is a specific surface, and you have to play aggressive and you have to play with confidence otherwise you're out. I tried to come in on her serve, especially second serve. That was the game plan coming into the match. Yeah, I was really pleased. I had some amazing returns in the beginning of the second set, in that long game at 1‑All. So I was pretty pleased with that. Q. Can I ask you about the World Cup? Will you watching and who will you be supporting? ANA IVANOVIC: Well, we don't have a team in the World Cup, so it's hard to say. But I'm honestly not a huge football fan. I do not follow it much. I'm not going to be watching it every night. My brother is not here, so I don't have reason to do so. Yeah, I mean, there are great teams. Brazil obviously is the home favorite, I guess. It's exciting match tonight against Croatia. Q. How long does it take for you to get comfortable on grass? Weeks? Matches? Days? ANA IVANOVIC: You know, it really depends. I don't know‑‑ I can't speak for all the girls, but I'm quite emotional player, so I go a lot by feeling. Sometimes you just feel it right away. First day when I practice on grass, I felt like I was on it for a long time. You know, just get moving, get forward, hit ball, and try not to analyze too much and make too many fancy shots. Rather, just go with your instinct, because you don't have time. Shorten your swings. I try to gather all the information I had from previous years and apply it now. It's just important to have fun. You know, grass is not my favorite surface, but it's still fun and different kind of game. I been working a lot on my volleys, so trying to put that in play as well it's a good challenge and it's fun. (Smiling.) Q. You've obviously had a fantastic 2014 so far. Can you take confidence from surface to surface? Or when the tour switches, do you have to rebuild the confidence on that surface? ANA IVANOVIC: No, I mean, obviously it takes few matches to get used to and maybe rebuild it. I think you can take a lot of confidence from the previous matches. You know, I feel like I'm a player who can adjust to any surface. It's just about mental state and being confident, knowing exactly what you have to do. This year I did play a lot of matches and I had a lot of the victories, which is something I needed and I haven't done so much in the past. So I do get a lot of confidence from that Q. I know you wear a credential every week and so you're used to having a picture of yourself around your neck. But here, every single person at the tournament has a picture of you. ANA IVANOVIC: I know, it's a bit strange. I had yesterday, or, no, two days ago there was a women with a little kid. He had a patch on his eye and she's like, Oh, we know that he cannot see really well because he said, Oh, look that's mommy playing tennis, for me. I'm like, Oh, no. That's a bit embarrassing. Q. Is it weird for you when you see everyone... ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, definitely. I'm like, You have my badge. (Laughing.) Q. You've been at tournaments obviously where there have been big posters of you, the Strong is Beautiful stuff or whatever. Do you get used to that, or every time you go somewhere and see your face everywhere is it sort of like, Oh, there is me? ANA IVANOVIC: To be honest, I don't I think you ever get used to it. For me, I see that as a different person, not really me. I feel like I have two personalities, one on the court and in the stands and so on, and then other person when I'm just with my friends, yeah, relaxing. Q. Do you think, Ana, after the years that you've been on tour and everything that's happened, do you think people understand you? Do you think fans or the the way you're perceived by media, fans, press, whatever, that you're perceived accurately? Do you think we have a good picture of you, or no? ANA IVANOVIC: I think, yeah, most of the people do. I mean, it's been years. People talk, and obviously it has truth in it, but I think I'm a lot more probably outgoing and open once people get to know me. Yeah, I like to make jokes and to also have deep and meaningful conversations. I can sit late and night and just talk about meaning of life and everything else. I really enjoy these debates as well. This is a part of me and a part of maybe players that people don't get to know. But I enjoy that in my free time. Q. So then can I ask, on tour, in the locker room, who's the person that you're most likely to be having these deep and meaningful conversations and debates about life with? ANA IVANOVIC: I had a few with Andrea Petkovic. Yeah, just with Mirjana Lucic, too. We talk about things that are a little bit not related to the sport. With Sorana as well. I think it's important to forget for the moment who we are and what we do. We are all in the same kind of environment, you know, and we all have same fears or problems or however you want to call that. So get out of that zone a little bit and open your mind and see a bigger picture and see there is still suffering in the world and there is still people who don't have food or anything. Then we complain about bad call or bad weather. Like what's that to do with anything, you know? Q. Obviously you and Novak were very involved with the Serbian floods and the flood relief. How is that going? What's the status of that? ANA IVANOVIC: Now it's a lot about recovery. They're trying to rebuild. It's been I think over two million ruins, and now people need to rebuild. Luckily there hasn't been many viruses, which is good thing. They're trying to just clean. There are a lot of people without houses. It's really sad, because the people that are affected the most are the poorest people. That's always the case. I was really surprised when I was back home to see how many young people came out and they were really generous giving their time and money to try and accommodate these people. There were a lot of psychology students that applied to help young kids that were going through maybe traumas. Q. I don't think you talked about this, at least here, but what are your thoughts on Andy Murray hiring a foreign top women's player as a women's player yourself? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, I mean, I think it came like a surprise for everyone. But like I said before, I think girls are a lot more emotional than guys. There are some guys that are emotional, but maybe are hiding it or trying to deal with it. So maybe he felt like that would be a good way for him to understand more deep that emotional side and try to deal with it. It's also very personal. I don't know him or her that well to be able to make informed judgment. If he thinks that's going to help him, definitely try it. But it is pushing boundaries a bit. Q. Do you like the pushing boundaries? Is it exciting? ANA IVANOVIC: Yeah, I think it is. We are pushing boundaries in every area in the world. It is exciting, and I think a lot girls have maybe not think about girls being coached by girls, so this shows there is no really rules. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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