Serbia's Ana Ivanovic has finally found a full-time coach, and the world has been curious to see will Craig Kardon help Ivanovic’s game. So far, we have only one tournament to analyze, and from what we’ve seen at the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, the world No.7 seems to be moving in the right direction.

Let’s see what Ivanovic herself said about Kardon’s coaching methods:

Craig and I have been working well together on the court. He is very positive and I like his coaching philosophy so far. For example, he is more concerned with tactics and dominating opponents instead of looking closely at technique and videos; I think this suits me.

Dubai was good progress for me. I felt like I was getting my confidence back and playing some aggressive tennis. It was a good start to our coaching relationship and hopefully I can continue to improve in America over the next month.

Haha, now that I’m thinking, maybe Ivanovic performed well in Dubai simply because she was enjoying a stay at the Burj Al-Arab hotel. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Share This

Jelena Jankovic has been appointed the smile ambassador of Orbit chewing gum for the territory of Serbia. The tennis player famous for her ever-present smile is starring in a TV commercial which will air in her home Serbia from March.

In addition, Jankovic will help Orbit create the largest collage made of photos of smiles, and thus enable Serbia to enter the Guinness Book of World Records in that particular discipline. (source: Jelena Jankovic’s official website)

Share This

It was a star-studded Tuesday at the Nick Bollettieri's Tennis Academy: Maria Sharapova, Jelena Jankovic and Nicole Vaidisova were seen training there and Jola, the mother of a full time student at Nick's, shot a video where you can see how the top tennis players are practicing.

Additional info: Check out this cute site, Jankovic’s and Sharapova’s cars next to each other.

BTW: Jelena Dokic has also been at the Academy these days, but she wasn't caught on camera. However, Nick Bollettieri himself is regularly updating us on what Dokic has been doing. (source: HCFoo's Tennis Blog)

Share This

Enjoy a brand new Cole Haan ad featuring Maria Sharapova. This new spring campaign features bags and the Nike Zoom Flywire Shoe.

I like the ad. It’s stylish, soothing, and light.

Share This

Now you can download for free a 40-minute workout where Serena Williams coaches you every step of the way.

Shape’s exclusive Nike SportMusic coached workout featuring Serena Williams can be downloaded by right-clicking the link above and then choosing "Save Link As" from the list of options.

Shape magazine partnered with Nike to bring this free "Power Boost" audio workout designed to tone your entire body and improve your strength and stamina. The music was carefully chosen to keep you motivated until the end, while the workout itself was developed by award-winning fitness instructor Jay Blahnik.

BTW: Serena has been on the media merry-go-round lately. Besides appearing at an event for Gatorade G2, the world No.1 was interviewed by ESPN's Jim Rome and also had a stop by the Ellen Degeneres Show. (source: shape.com)

Share This