The Overrule: Selling Ana Ivanovic

By Sports Magician


Don't be confused by the title, this article is not about to enter the realms of Eastern European sex trafficking. However, Sporting Index have offered The Overrule the opportunity to sell Ana Ivanovic and it's one we must take. In the women’s Grand Slam performance market, Ivanovic is available to be sold at 6 and bought at 8. The scoring system works as follows…

Points are awarded on the following basis:

Winner of a Grand Slam = 50 points
Runner up of a Grand Slam = 25 points
Semi-final of a Grand Slam = 10 points

Essentially we will be backing Ivanovic not to make the semis or better of any of the three remaining Grand Slam events at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Since Ivanovic won her first and only Grand Slam title at the 2008 French Open her career has become nothing short of a disaster. Unable to deal with the pressure and expectation of being number one in the world, the Serbian’s demise has been as stunning as her looks. Her game has completely fallen apart and she is nothing more than an afterthought on the tour at present, with bookmakers pricing her up at 100/1 or more for events that she would have been expected two years ago to be among the favourites for.

Why has Ana fallen so low, so quickly? Confidence is a key factor. It’s plainly evident that she has no belief in her own game and no plan b when things are not going well. The serve is a major weakness and she is often unable to keep her ball toss under control. It has been a real shame to see such a promising career disintegrate in such whirlwind fashion. Ivanovic has many fans, both for her style of tennis, her personality and of course, her appearance. Nowadays her looks are the only reason she is mentioned, whereas before it was the combination of her star quality allied with her on court performance.

The former world number one is currently ranked number fifty-eight, and that makes a last four appearance at a Grand Slam all the more unlikely. No longer seeded during majors means that draws only become harder, and Ivanovic has been losing to anyone and everyone, never mind the elite players. Ivanovic’s best at a Grand Slam since winning the French Open was a fourth round appearance at the French Open and Wimbledon in 2009. It’s hard to see her reaching even that far this year.

Sporting Index’s Grand Slam performance market requires players to have played in at least two majors during the year for bets to stand, Ivanovic has already played at this year’s Australian Open, where she lost in the second round to Gisela Dulko in a match of pure comedy. Ivanovic was mercilessly exposed during Fed Cup against earlier this season where she represented Serbia, along with Jelena Jankovic, against Russia. While Jankovic was fighting her heart out to keep Serbian hopes alive, Ivanovic was being crushed in front of a Belgrade crowd who gave her every ounce of support that they could. Alisa Kleybanova and Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Ivanovic with ease, and it was only because of Jankovic that Serbia were able to take the tie to a deciding doubles rubber.

Jankovic and Ivanovic joined forces in the doubles, but Jankovic may as well have played by herself as Russia ran out easy winners. Ivanovic has decided to skip Serbia’s next Fed Cup tie, citing her form as the reason for missing a match that Serbia must win to stay in the world group. It’s a clear indication that all is not well, and hasn’t been for a long while. A change of coach has had no impact whatsoever, and the women’s game is moving on quickly without her.

To be brutally honest, I have more chance of making a semi-final of a women’s Grand Slam event this year than Ana, and I am neither a woman nor a professional tennis player. The Overrule will sell Ivanovic’s points total for three points, meaning that if she fails to reach a semi-final of a Grand Slam this season, we will benefit to the tune of eighteen points. Should Ivanovic make progress deep into a Grand Slam event this year, we will consider backing her in that tournament to offset any possible liabilities. However, it would take a near miracle for Ivanovic to be in a position to trouble the world’s best this season. Aged just twenty-two, all is not lost for Ana, but it’s a long road back from where she is at present.

PICK: 3*SELL ANA IVANOVIC GRAND SLAM PERFORMANCE @ 6 (SPORTING INDEX)

Sports Magician