"There is a lot more pressure on women to perform, so I think what Serena Williams achieved is great and it is going to be very hard to repeat" - Ana Ivanovic
Former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic feels that it is impossible to compare the men's game with the women's game, and that the two aren't as similar as what most fans might think. Speaking in a recent interview with the Olympic Channel Podcast, the former Roland Garros champion said there was a lot more pressure on women to perform at the highest level than men.
While Ivanovic admitted that some players can handle the pressure, she was understanding of those who struggle to deal with constant expectations all the time. For that reason, the 34-year-old declared that it would be nearly impossible for someone to follow in the footsteps of Serena Williams, who won 23 singles Grand Slams and 14 doubles Majors among other accolades.
"There are some players who find it really hard and step away from the game but then there are others who reach everything they want to reach. It's very different, the men's game and women's game," Ana Ivanovic said. "There is a lot more pressure on women to perform, to be constantly on top. Men don't handle it the same way. So I think what Serena [Williams] achieved is great and it is going to be very hard to repeat.”
Tennis superstar Naomi Osaka helped launch an important conversation about athlete mental health last year.
She talked with @CarterCenter Fellow @rebecca_ruiz ('11-'12) at @mashable about making meditation approachable + community mental health.
mashable.com/article/naomi-…
Tangentially, Ana Ivanovic also touched on Naomi Osaka's struggles with mental health. The Serbian said that she was sympathetic towards Osaka and hoped that the Japanese would find a way to deal with her issues.
“[Naomi] Osaka, she’s talked a lot about mental struggles and mental pressures she has and everyone has that," Ana Ivanovic said. "It’s just how everyone handles it. And it’s not always nice, it’s not always easy."
This is a great interview with Ana Ivanovic. Talks about her kids, Basti, Swiatek, Alcaraz, Osaka. You should check:
“Sometimes was very much focused on the external, on results, on what people think. And then you realise that that’s not what matters”.
olympics.com/en/news/ana-iv…
The former French Open champion said she was happy that the mental part of the game was becoming much more important these days and that people were finally starting to focus on the things that matter.
“During times in my career, sometimes it was very hard because I was very much focused on the external, on results, on what people think and so on. And then you realise that actually that’s not what matters, it’s what comes from inside," Ana Ivanovic said. "I think the mental part of the game, it’s becoming so much more important than it ever was."
"People make judgements according to what they see, which is not the full story; it can get really hard for players to get over it" - Ana Ivanovic
During the interview, Ana Ivanovic also touched on how fans are far too quick to pass judgement on players despite not knowing the "full story." The 34-year-old was of the opinion that people only see the "tip of the iceberg" and are not fully aware of what the players go through off the court.
"What upsets me, I remember, was that many times, people actually didn’t really know what was going on behind the scenes because people just see the tip of the iceberg. Everything else is what we do off court," Ana Ivanovic said. "It’s what we do in a preseason, what we do in training weeks, what we do before matches and no one sees that and why would I want to talk about all these details?"
The former World No. 1 said baseless criticism was hard to swallow for players because only they knew the truth about the difficulties involved in the profession.
"People make judgements according to what they see, which is not – well, most of the time – the full story," Ivanovic said. "It can get really hard for players to get over it, because they know the truth is different."