Ivanovic and Schiavone fighting fit for Australian Open
Published:Ana Ivanovic is 16/1 in the Australian Open betting odds to win the Grand Slam for the first time, but it is currently touch and go whether she will be fit to take part at Melbourne Park.
The 23-year-old has been forced to pull out of Serbia’s Hopman Cup final and will also miss the Sydney International event after suffering a stomach injury when working on her serve in training.
Ivanovic has been advised to take some time off to recuperate from the injury, but is confident that she will have sufficiently recovered for the opening Grand Slam of the year.
The former world number one has reached the final of the Australian Open before, but on the whole has disappointed in the event.
Ivanovic lost to Maria Sharapova in the final in 2008, but otherwise has failed to make it past the third round in five other attempts.
However, she did win two tournaments on hard courts towards the end of 2010 which would have boosted her confidence of going close in Melbourne.
Ivanovic is not the only former Grand Slam winner fighting fit ahead of the Australian Open.
Francesca Schiavone won the French Open last year but was forced to retire from her match representing France at the Hopman Cup with a groin injury.
But this was seemingly done as a precautionary measure and she should be fully recovered ahead of the start of the tournament on January 17th.
Schiavone is back at 80/1 in the Australian Open betting and this is unsurprising based on the fact that she failed to reach a single hard court final last year.
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