'The inexplicable collapse of a tennis phenom' "Over the past two years, Ivanovic, age 22, has slowly come undone on the tennis court. Her problems began after she won the 2008 French Open and became the world’s No. 1 female player. That summer, in Majorca, Spain, she injured her thumb while practicing with male players whose severe topspin strokes threw off her timing. She has since sustained several other minor injuries—but mostly she has lost her confidence. A professional tennis player might flub a toss once or twice a match. Against Dulko, Ivanovic flubbed at least 20 tosses. She hit 11 double faults and lost in three sets. (It was the fifth time she had committed nine or more double faults in a match since winning her French Open title.) Not long after, her ranking dipped to No. 58; this summer at Wimbledon, she was unseeded, and lost in the first round." - Christopher Chung

"“It’s obviously a problem from tension, and it shows itself in the ball toss,” said Heinz Günthardt, Steffi Graf’s former coach, who began working with Ivanovic earlier this year. Her forehand, far and away her strongest shot, has also deteriorated—to the point that she no longer seems to take pleasure in hitting it. Günthardt described a downward spiral that began with doubt and proceeded to muscle tightness, then to compensation (swing harder, or in a different way), and finally to new, flawed habits. A stroke that used to begin with the fluid rotation of her upper body turned into a slap at the ball, without Ivanovic’s knowing she had changed anything at all." - Christopher Chung

Geez. Should i even bother reading the article? It sounds pretty depressing. - Dan Hsiao

this is most of the interesting stuff, but maybe it's worth reading. it's real short. - Christopher Chung