The comeback continues to gather pace.
If it wasn't for the scorching midday heat, it's unlikely the resurgent Ana Ivanovic would have even broken sweat as she destroyed Sabine Lisicki of Germany 6-0, 6-3 at the Aviation Club centre court on Tuesday.
A swaggering Ivanovic broke Lisicki in the first game. Minutes later, it was 2-0. Another break made it 3-0. She never looked back after that. The win was as brutal, efficient and quick as the score suggests.
It’s been some resurrection for the former world No 1 over the last year.
In 2008, the talented Serb topped the WTA rankings at the tender age of 20. That year, she had followed up a final appearance in the Australian Open with her one and only Grand Slam title win at the Roland Garros, defeating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 in the final in Paris.
She looked to have the world at her feet, but that would be as good as it got.
Though she has competed in every grand slam since — and is on a run of 42 in total — Ivanovic has never come close to matching that early success. In fact, since that win in Paris she has progressed beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam only twice, when she reached the quarter-finals at the US Open in 2012, and at the Australian Open in Melbourne last year.
She finished 2008 ranked fifth in the world. The following years were characterised by underachievement, her ranking dropping to 22 in 2009, 17 (2010), 22 (2011), 13 (2012), 16 (2013) before 2014’s renaissance saw her hit her current position of fifth.
After dispensing of Lisicki in double-quick time, there a sense she is making up for lost time.
“Yes, definitely,” Ivanovic said with a smile. “You know, I really feel I missed competition. And even in this month I really felt like I wanted to go out there and compete. It was not easy to leave Australia so early, and to be honest, I didn’t watch later on. But I just want to keep playing and try to keep this level.”
She started 2015 with yet another disappointing first round exit in Melbourne. Yet the previous 12 months had seen her steadily climb back up the rankings since those, what was suggested to her were, “lost years”.
“You know, the only thing that I regret is that I didn’t enjoy it more,” Ivanovic admitted. “Of course it’s tough when your ranking drops, but I always felt I underachieved in those years. I really had to work hard to set others’ expectations aside and try to look for my own, and try to still embrace what I have and doing what I love in competition.”
Like many before her, the expectations of being tennis’s “next big thing” weighed heavy on her shoulders. Now 27, she has shown incredible self-belief and motivation to get back to the level of the world’s best players. She may only have one Grand Slam to her name, but that is still one more than Caroline Wozniacki, Agnieszka Radwanska, Jelena Jankovic and Simona Halep have managed between them.
The new, mature Ivanovic is grateful for those who stuck by her all those years.
“This really means a lot to me, to have this kind of support from fans,” she said. “I get lots of messages. And from friends, as well, and also tournament directors and people that I face every day, this really means a lot to me. I really appreciate all their support. Sometimes we are not very vocal about it, but their support means a lot.”
Ivanovic’s devastating form against Lisicki hints that, a decade after exploding on the scene, her best is yet to come.
“I still feel young and fit and there is still a lot of tennis to be played and tournaments to be won. That’s why I’m here,” she said. “I have this drive, and I really feel that maybe these years also gave me lots of experience. Because I think in every life you experience ups and downs in different areas and different times of your life. You just have to go through it. Unfortunately I had to go through it in public, which was not easy.”
It all seems to have been worth it in the end. Ivanovic has never looked so relaxed or at ease in public and in front of the world’s media. Is she finally embracing the spotlight that has followed her since that early success in Paris?
“Yeah, you know I realised I have no choice,” she said. “Unfortunately sometimes you have to embrace it. To be honest, I’m a different person now than I was years ago and especially when I won French Open. So when you get mature, you also get more secure about yourself. You see things differently. Now some things I don’t take it so hard and so personal as I did in the past.”
These days, Ivanovic simply takes it out on her opponents, as poor Lisicki found out to her cost in Dubai.
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