TENNIS in DEPTH.

Tournament directors hope that Ana Ivanovic’s inclusion in their events will help boost their gate revenues, and for this reason alone she has been granted wildcards into 3 US Open Series events. Depending upon the luck of the draw she could easily be gone after just one match, which would do nothing for her confidence, push her further down the rankings, and put her future in jeopardy.

She returns to action at the Bank of the West Classic, which begins in Stanford on Monday. Ana entered the tournament late following her Wimbledon exit and was thus granted a wild card for an event that she has not before played.

From Stanford Ana will head south to the Mercury Insurance Open in San Diego, where she has also been granted a wild cad. She has played the tournament once before, in 2006 when she reached the third round on her way to winning the US Open Series.

 Ana’s third event of the US hard court summer will be the Western & Southern Financial Group Women’s Open in Cincinnati, Ohio. She is one place off direct entry into the main draw, but her participation has been guaranteed by the offer of a wild card if necessary.

 Ana, who won the Rogers Cup in 2006 as an 18-year-old, has had her request for a wild card in Montreal declined, and so she would have to play qualifying in order to compete in Canada – her ability to do so dependent on her results in Cincinnati during 9-15 August.

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