Break Points: The Process Pays off for Ana Ivanovic

Notable Results:

• Rome R3: [15]Tommy Haas d. [3]Stan Wawrinka 5-7 6-2 6-3
• Rome R3: [12]Grigor Dimitrov d.[6]Tomas Berdych 6-7 6-2 6-2
• Rome R3: [11]Ana Ivanovic d. [8]Maria Sharapova 6-1 6-4
• Rome QF: [6]Jelena Jankovic d. [3]Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4 6-4
• Rome QF: [10]Sara Errani d. [2]Li Na 6-3 4-6 6-2
• Rome QF: [8]Milos Raonic d. Jeremy Chardy 6-3 5-7 6-2
• Rome QF: [2]Novak Djokovic d. [5]David Ferrer 7-5 4-6 6-3
• Rome QF: [1]Rafael Nadal d. [7]Andy Murray 1-6 6-3 7-5

News & Links:

Earlier this week, Anusha Rasalingam contributed a great piece to The Changeover on tennis friendships. As you guys have probably noticed, things have slowed down on the writing front at this site due to our other commitments. (Trust us, we hate it more than you do.) We will be gearing up the posting for the upcoming Slams, but we are certainly open to contributors at this time. If you have any ideas for fun pieces and are in need for some guidance and an audience, please e-mail us! No experience necessary, just a love for tennis and a fresh idea or perspective.

Speaking of writing, Matt Zemek, a dear friend of The Changeover, is going to be blogging about tennis for the Bloguin network. He wrote a wonderful post about his journey from tennis fan to paid blogger over at the All I Need is a Picket Fence blog It’s great to see new sites investing in great tennis writers and more tennis coverage.

It’s been a fabulous week (and season) for Ana Ivanovic. Courtney Nguyen sat down with the Serb and got some great insight into her journey.

‘[The early success] was very overwhelming, not because of the success itself but because of the attention, because I’m a very shy person. I struggled with that,’ she said. ‘So when I was successful and everyone wanted to see me play, I actually wanted to go back in my shell. So first of all I had to get comfortable with that.

‘Then it’s been a process of finding what works for me. I had lots of coaches, and no one could help me bring out what’s my best and no one could bring that fire back. I know a lot of it comes from within, but it’s also the team that helps you. All of the coaches, I didn’t feel like they cared that much. They were there, but they weren’t really there. Every time I tried to talk they were like, ‘Yeah, you deal with it. It’s your problem.’ With this team now, it’s been a team.’

As we mentioned earlier this week, Dinara Safina finally announced her retirement from the sport last week in Madrid. Steve Tignor wrote a wonderful piece on the former No. 1, praising her determination and struggle. If you’re not that familiar with Safina’s career, Lindsay wrote about it when this site first started.

Yet another great Tignor piece on the history of the Rome tennis tournament.

Tennis on Twitter:

Asked Grigor Dimitrov if he considered his win over Berdych an upset. He said not at all. Belief and confidence is there that he belongs.

— Beyond The Baseline (@SI_BTBaseline) May 15, 2014

Thanks for all the birthday messages! Off out on the town now to celebrate.. #carnage

— Andy Murray (@andy_murray) May 15, 2014

Chinese journalist tells me Peng Shuai is now working with Thomas Hogstedt. Huh.

— Courtney Nguyen (@FortyDeuceTwits) May 15, 2014

If Shuai Zhang wins tomorrow, she's 2 top player w/ds away from being seeded #32 at the French. SHE HAS NEVER WON A MATCH AT ANY SLAM EVER

— Jason (@Hurley_LLC) May 14, 2014

.@GrigorDimitrov and his birthday cake on his face courtesy of @roger_rasheed #IBI14 #ATP pic.twitter.com/0rviG17MPw

— Nicola Arzani (@Nicarzani) May 16, 2014

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