Former world number one Ana Ivanovic has rekindled her love of tennis, now she needs to carry her career resurgence onto the game's biggest stages.
The eighth-seeded Serbian was bundled out of the US Open second round on Thursday by unseeded Czech Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4.
It was another Grand Slam disappointment in what has otherwise been a bounce-back season. Ivanovic has won three WTA titles, including her first career grasscourt trophy in Birmingham.
She reached the quarter-finals at the Australian Open, but was bounced in the third round at both Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
"It's very disappointing," she acknowledged. "It's never easy to finish, and especially this early. I was really hoping I could make a good run.
"I'm definitely going to assess what went wrong and what I can work on.
"I had great leadups to every Grand Slam," she added. "I played a lot of matches and won lot of matches -- big matches as well.
"At the Grand Slams I just haven't performed that well. It's something that I'm definitely going to work on and see where I can improve, because that's definitely a big aim for me next season."
Source: AFP
