Ana Ivanovic Parts Ways With Coach
June 9, 2009 by Jeanne Dupuis
Filed under Tennis
Ana Ivanovic has split with her coach, Craig Kardon, and I can’t say that I’m surprised by the news. Kardon was the former coach of the legendary Martina Navratilova (who won a whopping 18 Grand Slam championships!).
He was hired by the former No. 1 on a trial basis back in February but just this past week, Ivanovic dropped from No. 8 to No. 13 in the WTA rankings and bowed out of the 2009 French Open in just the fourth round.
Honestly, I think that the game has progressed a bit since Kardon’s days with Navratilova and I don’t think his style necessarily meshes with that of a 21-year-old player like Ivanovic. She was classy about it, at least. She put the following message on her website: “I’d like to thank Craig for all his hard work. He’s a great guy and I enjoyed working with him.”
The timing is a little unfortunate, though. She will have to rely on the guidance of assistant coaches as she heads into Eastbourne and Wimbledon later this month.
image: Zuma Press
