Reports have surfaced today that Ana Ivanovic has parted ways with Sven Groenefeld, the coach who helped the Serb earn her maiden Grand Slam at Roland Garros and the keys to the WTA Penthouse. She'll most likely be without a coach when she arrives in Melbourne for the Aussie Open in a fortnight.
This is an interesting development in light of rumors last September that Ana would be leaving adidas when her contract expired this year. I'm guessing the sports brand couldn't pony up the 10-year, $10 million per year option Team Ana was searching for, and with Sven part of adidas' baller development program this makes the decision to leave more likely now.
But today's news begs a bigger question: where will she land if she does leave adidas? A return to Nike seems the likely place since they'll have the funds and proper marketing for a baller of Ana's stature. Plus, she'll be free to hire a full-time, traveling coach now which could really help her game.
She's not the only Serb making significant changes at the start of '09, however. I've already posted about Novak Djokovic's switch from Wilson to HEAD in Queensland and there are also rumors Jelena Jankovic has left Reebok (Lacoste has been mentioned as the new sponsor) and possibly Prince for Wilson though no formal announcements have been made.
Stay tuned!
(via womenstennisblog.com, image via daylife.com)
Monday, January 5, 2009
THE LOW DOWN: Ana + Sven part ways - will she be leaving adidas soon?
Labels: Ana Ivanovic, coaching, tennis
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I want her to sign with nike!!!
ReplyDeleteDo you think Nike will give her a big contract considering they already have the tops in tennis: Maria, Serena, Rafa, Federer?
ReplyDelete-Lisa
Lisa: Absolutely. If they do take her on, they'd be looking at a long-term prospect as they have with Rafa, Shrieka, and Fed - ReRe came on a little later on in her career after Puma.
ReplyDeleteBut ReRe is in the latter part of her career and I'm sure they'd like to have someone who's highly marketable, talented, and can win the majors and be No.1, which Ana has done already.
Plus, based on the numbers Team Ana is searching for in terms of sponsorship dollars, Nike is the only brand in tennis that could even come close.
if i were team ivanovic, i wouldn't move ana to nike. why move her there when she's adidas' queen? it would also be a wrong move to sign up with one of those chinese companies (sorry!). re. sven: with the implementation of on-court coaching, i don't think ana will be able to use sven a lot, especially if she's up against a fellow adidas player. i believe that her current hitting partner (who i read somewhere was recommended by sven) will also help her out with her strategizing on-court.
ReplyDeleteadidas took over reebok in 2005. will they sign up JJ in case ana moves to a different company?
-kelsey
I don't know; Ana isn't yet a tennis superstar on the same level as Roger, serena, maria and rafa so she might end up in their shadow. Also, nothing guarantees that nike would be willing to cough up that kind of money for Ana. Adidas has definitely failed her fashion-wise so something needs to change but I don't know if Nike is right.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of adidas fashion failures, Wozniak had ot wear the lady fingers horror for some sponsor named IRIS.
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=wozniakphotoshoot
If nothing else. She deserves better clothing. The latest purple dress from Addidas looks like a curtain draped over her.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how Maria will feel if Ana decides to join Nike.
ReplyDeleteAna shouldn't leave Adidas.