Along with several other Serbian tennis players, Ana is responsible for the gargantuan rise in popularity in the sport in Serbia: it is now the No.1 sport in a country that previously knew nothing other than soccer or basketball.

Ana has used this platform to make a difference in the lives of children, particularly in her home country of Serbia. On September 8, 2007, Ana Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador to Serbia. In that role, she has generated publicity for UNICEF’s campaigns by writing newspaper columns, playing charity exhibition matches, visiting schools for the “Schools Without Violence” program, and developing a line of Ana / adidas / UNICEF co-branded t-shirts.

For these and other efforts, Ana has been awarded the 2009 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Humanitarian of the Year Award, and the 2008 Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Diamond ACES Award (given to the player deemed to have contributed the most time to off-court activities including community work). She was also nominated for the 2007 International Women of Courage Award (given by the United States Secretary of State to recognize “outstanding female leaders”).

About Ana Ivanovic

Ana Ivanovic began her rise to the top of the tennis world at age five, when she convinced her parents to sign her up for lessons after memorizing the telephone number of a local tennis school from a newspaper ad. Ivanovic grew up amidst the NATO bombings in Serbia during the late 1990s, training in an abandoned swimming pool.

Ivanovic reached the apex of her sport in 2008 with a mid season run as the world’s top ranked player. Winner of the 2008 French Open, runner up at the 2007 French and 2008 Australian Opens, Ivanovic is coming off her second straight season among the top five in the WTA year-end rankings. She was the AIPS Women’s Tennis Player of the Year in 2008.