What was the biggest WTA surprise of 2014? The Slam struggles of Serena Williams? The rise of Simona Halep and Eugenie Bouchard? Few anticipated those developments, but it’s fair to say that even fewer would have predicted that Ana Ivanovic, at 27, would finish the season at No. 5, with four titles to her name. It was her first year-end appearance in the Top 10 since her Slam-winning days of 2008. After half a career’s worth of busted comebacks, she made this one stick.
Some of the credit, she said, goes to the Serbian coaches she hired: She felt comfortable with them, but not so comfortable that she didn’t make yet another coaching change by the end of the season. On court, Ivanovic got back to doing what she does best, attacking early and often with her forehand, and she didn’t let her famously wayward service toss do her in. This former French Open champion and world No. 1 has always had the ball-striking skills; it was a matter of getting out of her own way and letting them work. The only flaw in her season was her performance at the majors: Her best result was a quarterfinal run in Australia. But after 2014, we can no longer bet against her fixing that problem either.