New Delhi: Serbian player Ana Ivanovic is tennis' hottest girl. Born on November 6, 1987, she was once world no. 1. As of October 22, 2012, she was ranked 12th on the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) rankings.Ana beat Dinara Safina to win the 2008 French Open and was the runner-up in singles at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open. Competing as a professional since 2003, she has won 11 WTA Tour singles titles, including one Grand Slam singles title. When on form, Ivanovic is known for her aggressive style of play. By reaching the quarter-finals of the 2012 US Open, Ivanovic not only ended a record 17 consecutive Grand Slams without a quarter-final appearance by a former Grand Slam champion but also reached at least the quarter-final stage of each Grand Slam.As of 2012, Ivanovic has earned over $ 9.7 million since turning pro in August 2003.Aside from her tennis career, Ivanovic also studies finance at a university in Belgrade and Spanish in her spare time. Her inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia.On September 8, 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević, Jelena Janković and Emir Kusturica. Ivanovic picked up a racket at the age of five after watching Monica Seles, a fellow Yugoslav, on television. She started her career after memorizing the number of a local tennis clinic from an advertisement. At the time, she was forced to train during the morning to avoid bombardments. Later, she admitted that she trained in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as there were no other facilities. When she was 15, Ivanovic spent four hours in the locker room crying after a defeat – the first that her new manager had watched. She thought that Dan Holzmann, the manager in question, would drop her, thinking that she was not good enough to become a professional tennis player. He has stayed her manager to this day.
