 Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |  Photographer: Paul Zimmer
Date: 07 Jul 2008 |
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| 10 Jul 2008 | |
| Olympic spotlight on....Ana Ivanovic |
Q: 2008 is Olympic year. It must be exciting.
AI: Yeah, definitely. I mean, the Olympics is something all athletes, not only tennis players, dream of playing. So it's a great honour for me to have the opportunity to represent my country there. And obviously it's in China and I've never been there, so it's double excitement for me.
Q: Talk about playing for your country and the feeling that gives you.
AI: It's an amazing feeling because, you know, growing up I saw basketball players and volleyball players winning gold medals, representing our country in the best possible way. And now I have the opportunity to do the same thing, so it's very thrilling.
And everywhere I go, every tournament I play, I try to represent my country in the best possible way. The Olympics are a great opportunity to do that once more.
Q: What are your earliest memories of the Olympics?
AI: I remember when our basketball players won a gold medal. It was something very special. Back home people always talk about the Olympics as something unbelievable, and something everyone wants to be at.
And also in 2004, I was really sorry I couldn't participate in Athens. I was still too young. But this year I really hope I can do it in the best possible way.
Q: Let's say you get a bronze, silver or gold medal, what will that feeling be like?
AI: That would be an amazing feeling. It will be such a thrilling moment. That's something every athlete dreams. You know, winning at the Olympics, it's like winning a Grand Slam, but even harder because it's every four years, and you get the chance to play the Olympics maybe twice, maximum maybe three times in your career.
Q: And to walk out in the stadium with the Serbian team, as a tennis player with so many different athletes around you, that's going to be amazing.
AI: It is going to be. I'm so much looking forward to that. And many, many athletes will be there who I haven't even met. You know, I’ve heard a lot about them, and I always read the newspapers about them.
So getting a chance to meet other sports people, just to see what kind of rituals or warm-ups or practices they do. And just going out there and walking with all of them, it's going to be amazing.
Q: You say you haven't been to China before. What do you expect?
AI: I don't know. It's very hard for me to imagine because actually now I just came back from Hong Kong, so probably I have a little bit of a picture of how it might look. But I still believe it's a lot different; it's a very different culture also to ours.
I'm looking forward to experiencing their way of doing certain things, you know, the rituals they have. It's going to be very exciting.
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