Sears: Ivanovic won Grand Slam title too early

Nigel Sears, who has been coaching Ana Ivanovic since last July, says the former No. 1 is making gradual progress, but we should not expect her to immediately become a dominant player. "Bit by bit she is getting back to the standard Ana wants but there is no quick fix and you cannot just flick a switch and she’s suddenly playing the sort of tennis to win Grand Slam titles again," Sears told the Gulf Times. "There have been some very good performances in the recent few months, she did OK at the Australian Open and there have been a couple of other occasions when she did extremely well like winning the title in Bali at the end of last year. But it’s a process which requires patience and it’s an ongoing process."

Sears, who once coached Daniela Hantuchova and headed the LTA’s women’s coaching department, said that Ivanovic's 2008 French Open title at age 20 may have thrown her off course. The Serbian has reached the quarterfinals of Dubai and will face another former No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki.

"It’s probably fair to say she won a major title too early in her career and it was always going to be difficult after that point so a lot of things needed to worked on," Sears said. "It’s a great challenge and I now see really encouraging signs that everything is coming together and she is really moving in the right direction again."