After splitting with her coach of two years, Nigel Sears, former No. 1 Ana Ivanovic says she won’t hire a full-time coach for the rest of this summer. She is currently traveling with her hitting partner, Nemanja Konitc , her fitness coach Zlatko Novovic, and her physio, Branko Penic. She will work with adidas Player Development coaches Sven Groeneveld and Darren Cahill when they are available.
“That was big change, but I really felt like I needed it because it was good, but I was stuck in the same place and I really needed to make a transition and I needed to hear a fresh voice,” she told TENNIS.com. “It was a big change and tough decision but it came both ways.”
The world No. 17 said it wasn’t necessarily her tough fourth-round loss to Agnieszka Radwanska at Roland Garros or her second-round upset at the hands of Eugenie Bouchard at Wimbledon that spurred on the change.
“It’s not a match in particular,” she said. “I was disappointed in the loss at Wimbledon, but it wasn’t that, it was over period of time and there were a lot of the same things and repetitions and it was good week, bad week and not getting me to where I wanted to. I felt like I needed to do something radical.”
The 25-year-old has consistently said that she wants to return to the Top 5 and compete for Grand Slam titles, but she hasn’t been able to reach the final four of a major since she won the 2008 French Open. She doesn’t blame Sears for the relationship not working out.
“It’s always two ways,” said Ivanovic, who upset defending champion Dominika Cibulkova 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the Southern California Open. “You have your opinions and the other person his own and he wanted to get the best out of me and I’m sure it was frustrating for him that he couldn’t get me to do the things that he wanted. But sometimes you need a fresh voice and you need someone to influence you better. It was a mutual agreement.”