TENNIS:FROM A trembling teenager who won just three games in last year's Roland Garros final against Justin Henin, the remodelled Ana Ivanovic confirmed why she will be installed as the world number one today. The player who practised her tennis in a drained swimming pool during NATO's 1999 bombing of Belgrade admitted it was difficult to comprehend she is now the French Open champion.
"Obviously I dreamt of it, but if it was possible, if it was a reality, I wasn't sure," she said after her 6-4, 6-3 victory over Russia's Darina Safina.
Far as she has come, it is just the start of the journey for the 20-year-old Serb, who will almost immediately face threats to her number-one ranking as the season moves to grass. There she will meet new challenges, not least from the Russian Maria Sharapova, whose place at the top Ivanovic has taken.
Sharapova inherited the top spot less than a month ago when 26-year-old Henin surprisingly announced her retirement.
In an overcast Roland Garros Ivanovic overcame surging resistance from Safina but nothing that was consistent or sustained enough over 98 minutes to take charge of the match.
Safina was certainly a threat with her hard-hitting and rangy back-court game, but the penetration of the Ivanovic ground strokes off her forehand and her superior mobility, an aspect of her play that was not visible a year ago, came good on most of the big points.
Ivanovic took a 4-2 lead in the first set but lost three games in a row to allow Safina a peep. Regrouping, Ivanovic broke the Safina serve for 5-2 then served out for the set.
The Serb led 3-1 in the second set and won a huge game when her serve was under threat for 4-2, after which Safina appeared to tire, conceding the set 6-3.
"There were a few mental games out there today," said the champion. "I managed to stay strong and calm in the second set especially. It's much easier said than done but on court you have to be a killer."
The win means Serbians hold two Grand Slam titles, Novak Djokovic, who reached the semi-finals here, having won the Australian title at the start of the year.
Djokovic and Ivanovic are indeed the first Serbs to hold Grand Slam singles titles.
This is also an intense part of the tennis calendar and in two weeks' time Ivanovic will be scrambling on the grass at Wimbledon to hold position.
It is unusual for any player to come straight from victory on the clay of Paris to win on London grass. And Sharapova, the Williams sisters Venus and Serena Williams, and their US compatriot Lindsay Davenport, the 1999 Wimbledon winner, who is back competing after having a baby, will be big threats on the faster surface.
Davenport, who turned 32 yesterday, has already beaten Ivanovic this year.
"Obviously a lot of players will now play their best tennis against me, show their best game," said Ivanovic of the days ahead. "But next week I have time to relax a little, recover and prepare on the grass before Eastbourne and Wimbledon."
