The Daily Forehand: An SB Nation Community

Navigation: Jump to content areas:


Pro Quality. Fan Perspective.
Login-facebook
Around SBN: College Football Preseason Top 25 Rankings

Ana Ivanovic Enlists Darren Cahill

Struggling Serb Ana Ivanovic is now working with Darren Cahill, TennisReporters.net reports (in their sidebar). Cahill and Ivanovic will meet up the week before the Los Angeles WTA stop, which Ivanovic is playing and Cahill is commentating for ESPN2.

This is definitely a good get for Ivanovic. Her career has been in total freefall ever since she won the 2008 French Open. Ranked #1 less than a year ago, she is now outside the top 10, sitting currently at #11 (up from #13 before Wimbledon). With an errant ball toss causing her problems, as well as a seemingly complete loss of her court instincts, Ivanovic needs a big, proven name like Cahill to come in and work with her exclusively, which her Adidas-hired coach Sven Groenefeld was never able to do.

Cahill, who has previously coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi, has not worked extensively with a WTA player previously. He's got a reputation for being a great tennis mind and a class act, which should help him communicate with Ivanovic, who seems to be completely out of ideas and weapons in many of her matches.

Ivanovic won matches back in her peak playing days by playing fairly level, consistent tennis that was driven by aggression and decent movement. After she won her slam the self-doubt came (would seem an odd time for it), and her results tanked. She hasn't made the quarterfinals of a slam in her five slams after winning the 2008 French Open, a letdown that has taken her almost completely out of the conversation about the elites in women's tennis.

She doesn't have many points to defend in this second half of the season until Linz which she won at the end of 2008 in sort of a fluke patch of good form. With Venus and Serena still not playing many smaller tournaments, there's a fair number of points out there for Ivanovic to pick up. There's a great opportunity here for Cahill to help Ivanovic get back into the top 10, and possibly even into the Year-End Championships. Whether or not he'll be able to help the struggling Serb is yet to be seen, but it least it shows she's still trying.

0 recs  |  Comment 0 comments |

Story-email Email Printer Print

Around SB Nation

Serb and Volley

Jun 2008 from Waggle Room - 1 comment

Comments

Display:

Comments For This Post Are Closed


User Tools

SB Nation's Tennis Destination.
Start posting on The Daily Forehand »

Join SB Nation and dive into communities focused on all your favorite teams.

Connect_with_facebook

FanPosts

Community blog posts and discussion.

Recent FanPosts

Associated_20press_clayliston_1965_l_small
Who Can Win the Open (men)?
Livan_hernandez_articlepopup_small
Rogers Cup Preview
Small
Some advice to Mary Joe Fernandez
Livan_hernandez_articlepopup_small
Who will win the Legg Mason Tennis Classic?
Livan_hernandez_articlepopup_small
Enter the US Open Series Draw Challenge for the Farmers Classic
Bikes_008_small
Maria Sharapova is falling off the edge
Rclwimb_small
Melanie Oudin Plays in her Hometown - In a Circuit Event
Livan_hernandez_articlepopup_small
The Atlanta Tennis Championships Draw Challenge
Livan_hernandez_articlepopup_small
Daily Forehand US Open Series
Rclwimb_small
How Vera Zvonareva can beat Serena

+ New FanPost All FanPosts >

SBNation.com Recent Stories

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 02:  Roger Federer of Switzerland returns a shot to Andreas Beck of Germany during the Men's singles on day four of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 2 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.  (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) +12 updates

2010 U.S. Open, Day 4: Federer, Wozniacki Make It Look Easy, Djokovic Continues Reign Of Comedic Terror

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 01: Andy Roddick of the United States reacts after a point against Janko Tipsarevic of Serbia during his second round men's singles match on day three of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on September 1 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.  (Photo by Al Bello/Getty Images) +14 updates

Failure In Flushing: Andy Roddick Falls In Second Round Of U.S. Open

NEW YORK - AUGUST 31:  Rafael Nadal of Spain returns a shot against Teymuraz Gabashvili of Russia during his first round men's single's match on day two of the 2010 U.S. Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center on August 31 2010 in the Flushing neighborhood of the Queens borough of New York City.  (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images) +11 updates

2010 U.S. Open Day 2: Favorites Roll Despite Tough Early Tests

More from SBNation.com >


Managers

Me_minus_kbond_small Ben Rothenberg

Editors

Rclwimb_small Rick Limpert