LONDON: Ana Ivanovic admitted her decision to take time off after winning the French Open had backfired as she was dumped out of Wimbledon by Chinese wild ard Zheng Jie.
Ivanovic, 20, opted not to play the pre-Wimbledon tournaments at Birmingham and Eastbourne because victory in Paris had left her mentally and physically drained.
But the Serbian world No 1 conceded she was completely under-prepared for the grass-court season, leading to Friday's shock 6-1, 6-4 third-round defeat to an opponent ranked 132 places below her.
"I didn't have as good preparation as I hoped for because I had to have some time off, so I didn't have too much time to practice and to do all these little specific movements and things you need to in order to adjust to the grass," Ivanovic said.
"It's been a very emotional past couple of weeks for me. It took a toll on me. So with my coaches we try to cut the practices to a minimum just to have time to recover a little bit and have some time for myself.
"Obviously, it was tough because from the first match on, I tried to find my game, but I felt like I was struggling a little bit.
"It took time to adjust to the grass because, especially after clay, it's a completely different game."
Just three weeks after being installed as the world No 1 following her first Grand Slam success, Ivanovic has crashed back down to earth.
She admitted it has been a struggle to adapt to her new position as the leading woman, especially since her status has made a prize scalp for relatively unknown players like Zheng.
"Obviously, I felt the extra pressure a little bit in the beginning," she said. "Everyone's going to be so pumped against you and they're going to try to perform the best they can.
"I think in my previous matches, as well as today, you know, they had nothing to lose. Really I think they played some of their best tennis.
"It's something you have to accept. Also with the time you learn to deal with it.
"Trust me, it's not easy to lose. Every loss is disappointing but you also have to realize that the world won't end.
"I'm still so young and have many tournaments in front of me. These things make you learn that you still have room to improve. Sometimes you need a punch to realize what you have to work on."
She had been lucky to avoid defeat against Nathalie Dechy in the previous round after a netcord helped her save two match points.
On Friday, there was no escape.
But she admitted Zheng deserved all the credit for a superb performance that made a mockery of her lowly ranking.
"She's a good player and she plays well on grass," Ivanovic said. "She a has very powerful shot. She stays very low, so the balls are coming much faster through the air.
"I had a little bit of a tough time to adjust to the balls with the timing. I think grass suits very well with her.
"She was reading my serves very well. Even when I tried to kick it and bounce the ball high, she was still there on the ball."
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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