ROGERS CUP PRESENTED BY NATIONAL BANK
Date: 2008-07-30

ROGERS CUP PRESENTED BY NATIONAL BANK

July 30, 2008

Ana Ivanovic
MONTREAL, QUEBEC
A. IVANOVIC/P. Kvitova
6-4, 4-6, 6-3

The Moderator Before we begin, I actually wanted to make an important announcement. It's my pleasure to officially announce that we have two singles qualifiers for the season-ending Sony Ericsson Championships, to be held in Doha November 4th to the 9th.
Ana and her compatriot Jelena Jankovic are the first two qualifiers. Ana has qualified as the second in the race for the Sony Ericsson Championships. It's quite an achievement. We wanted to congratulate Ana on that.
Questions, please.

Question Are you satisfied with the way you played today?
Ana Ivanovic: It wasn't the best match I played. But it was a tough one. You know, she played a match before. So for me it was the first match since Wimbledon. So, you know, in the beginning obviously struggled to find my rhythm a little bit.
But, you know, I'm very happy I managed to win this match. It's never easy. But, you know, you have to win even if you don't play your best tennis. That was the case for me today.

Question What's the situation with your right hand?
Ana Ivanovic: A couple of days, weeks ago, I aggravated it a little bit practicing. It was a little bit tough and I struggled. I couldn't practice as much as I wanted coming into the tournament, and obviously that was very frustrating.
But, you know, I went on the court and that means that I felt a hundred percent ready to play. So, you know, obviously it takes some time to get in a rhythm. But I went through this match today. Probably it would be the same even if I was, you know, feeling a hundred percent.
So, yeah, just happy to be here and to have opportunity to play. Obviously tape is something, you know, that prevents and helps inflammation a little bit.

Question Is it just the thumb?
Ana Ivanovic: The thumb. Just a little bit inflamated [sic]. I did MRI and everything. It wasn't showing anything major, huge, so I was very pleased about that. Just inflammation that takes time to go away.

Question Were you injured before you came to Montréal?
Ana Ivanovic: Yeah, I got it about 10 days ago practicing. So, yeah, like I said, I wasn't able to practice as much as I wanted towards this tournament. But, you know, still very happy that I can play, perform.

Question What do you do when you don't practice?
Ana Ivanovic: Well, I was watching some DVDs and relaxing. It's also very nice time, you know, to find some time for yourself, to relax and read a little bit. Yeah, basically that's it.

Question Did you expect to see more people watching your game today?
Ana Ivanovic: I mean, it was quite a nice crowd. I was very happy to be back and to see the people again. Obviously, I have very nice memories from center court here. So I was trying to focus on my game and what I had to do. So I didn't look much around.
But still I appreciate effort to come out. It's always a great crowd here in Montréal.

Question The race for the No. 1 ranking spot is pretty close right now. Is it something you pay attention to a lot?
Ana Ivanovic: Obviously it would be hard for me to miss. I hear about it here and there. But it's not my main focus. I want to work hard and keep improving in my game, focus on what I have to do, try to perform like I did before, you know, to fight for each match and each game I play, then the rankings take care of themselves.

Question What was it that impressed you the most about her? Tough player to play in the first match after some time off.
Ana Ivanovic: She was serving really well today, I think. And also the way she seemed on the court, she didn't seem very nervous at all. Obviously I had a lot of chances in the second set. I was a break up. You know, let myself relax a little bit.
But, you know, she's a dangerous player.

Question Did you know much about her before the match?
Ana Ivanovic: No, not at all. I never seen her play. It's many, many new girls coming up now. It's also interesting for us to have a new challenges. You know, first few games obviously takes some time to figure out what's her better shot.