title: William Kidd

text: For years, people and treasure hunters tried to locate the "Quedagh Merchant". It was reported on 13 December 2007 that "wreckage of a pirate ship abandoned by Captain Kidd in the 17th century has been found by divers in shallow waters off the Dominican Republic." The waters in which the ship was found were less than ten feet deep and were only off Catalina Island, just to the south of La Romana on the Dominican coast. The ship is believed to be "the remains of the "Quedagh Merchant"". Charles Beeker, the director of Academic Diving and Underwater Science Programs in Indiana University (Bloomington)'s School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, was one of the experts leading the Indiana University diving team. He said that it was "remarkable that the wreck has remained undiscovered all these years given its location," and that the ship has been the subject of so many prior failed searches. Captain Kidd's cannon, an artifact from the shipwreck, was added to a permanent exhibit at The Children's Museum of Indianapolis in 2011.


title: William Kidd

text: In May 2015, a ingot expected to be silver was found in a wreck off the coast of Île Sainte-Marie in Madagascar by a team led by marine archaeologist Barry Clifford. It was believed to be part of Captain Kidd's treasure. Clifford gave the booty to Hery Rajaonarimampianina, President of Madagascar. But, in July 2015, a UNESCO scientific and technical advisory body reported that testing showed the ingot consisted of 95% lead, and speculated that the wreck in question was a broken part of the Sainte-Marie port constructions.


title: William Kidd

text: Edgar Allan Poe uses the legend of Kidd's buried treasure in his seminal detective story "The Gold Bug" (1843).


title: William Kidd

text: The 1957 children's book "Captain Kidd's Cat" by Robert Lawson is a largely fictionalized account of Kidd's last voyage, trial and execution. It is told from the point of view of his loyal ship's cat. The book portrays Kidd as an innocent privateer who was framed by corrupt officials as a scapegoat for their own crimes.


title: William Kidd

text: Captain Kidd appears as a character in "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (1936), a short story by Stephen Vincent Benét.


title: William Kidd

text: In the manga and anime series "One Piece", a character named Eustass "Captain" Kid refers to the historical Captain Kidd.


title: William Kidd

text: The character of Ogin, in the anime "Girls und Panzer", strongly identifies with Kidd, particularly with regard to her personality and leadership style. She commands a British Mark IV tank in "Das Finale".


title: Violent Femmes

text: Violent Femmes are an American folk punk band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band consists of founding members Gordon Gano (guitar, lead vocals) and Brian Ritchie (bass, backing vocals), joined by multi-instrumentalist Blaise Garza (joined 2004), and drummer John Sparrow (joined 2005). Former members of the band include drummers Victor DeLorenzo (1980–1993, 2002–2013), Guy Hoffman (1993–2002), and Brian Viglione (2013–2016).


title: Violent Femmes

text: Violent Femmes have released ten studio albums and 15 singles during the course of their career. The band found critical acclaim with the release of their self-titled debut album in early 1983. Featuring many of their best-known songs, including "Blister in the Sun", "Kiss Off", "Add It Up" and "Gone Daddy Gone", "Violent Femmes" became the band's biggest-selling album and was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA. After the release of their third album "The Blind Leading the Naked" (1986), the band's future was uncertain and they split up in 1987, when Gano and Ritchie went solo. However, they regrouped a year later, releasing their fourth album "3" (1989). The follow-up album, "Why Do Birds Sing?" (1991), contains the fan favorite and concert staple "American Music".


title: Violent Femmes

text: In 1993, founding member Victor DeLorenzo (percussion, snare drum) left Violent Femmes and was replaced by Guy Hoffman, who debuted on the band's sixth album "New Times" (1994). Two more albums – "Rock!!!!!" (1995) and "Freak Magnet" (2000) – were released with this lineup before DeLorenzo rejoined the band in 2002 for what was to be a farewell tour. Following the commercial failure of "Freak Magnet", Violent Femmes did not release any more studio albums for almost two decades, although a number of compilation albums were released in the early 2000s, along with a few one-off songs. Some controversy over the licensing of the band's songs for commercial use led to an official break-up in 2009, though they re-formed in 2013 (shortly before DeLorenzo left Violent Femmes again), and have since released two more studio albums of new material: "We Can Do Anything" (2016) and "Hotel Last Resort" (2019).


title: Violent Femmes

text: Violent Femmes were founded by bassist Brian Ritchie and percussionist Victor DeLorenzo in 1981, joined shortly thereafter by lead vocalist and guitarist Gordon Gano. According to Ritchie, he came up with the name of the group as a fake band name when one of his bandmates questioned his assertion that his brother was also in a band—he and DeLorenzo liked the name, so they used it for the rhythm duo in which they played prior to Gano joining the group. In its early days, the band frequently played coffee houses and street corners. They were discovered by James Honeyman-Scott (of the Pretenders) on August 23, 1981, when the band was busking on a street corner in front of the Oriental Theatre, the Milwaukee venue that the Pretenders would be playing later that night. Chrissie Hynde invited them to play a brief acoustic set after the opening act.


title: Violent Femmes

text: After their debut album "Violent Femmes", the band released "Hallowed Ground", which moved the group toward a country music sound and introduced Christian themes. Mark Van Hecke produced the band's first two efforts, but their third album, "The Blind Leading the Naked", saw a change in the studio. This time, another fellow Milwaukee native, Jerry Harrison of Talking Heads did the producing. It was more mainstream and pop-oriented, resulting in a minor hit with "Children of the Revolution", originally by T.Rex. In 1985, Van Hecke ended his collaboration with the group and became a composer and producer in the rapidly growing video game industry. He would return later to produce two more albums for the group. The Femmes briefly disbanded, with Gano releasing an album in 1987, the result of a gospel side project Mercy Seat. Ritchie also released several solo LPs. The group came back together in late 1988, releasing "3", a return to the band's earlier, stripped-down sound. "Why Do Birds Sing?" was released in 1991 after the band signed to Reprise and featured another minor hit, "American Music," which became a concert staple.


title: Violent Femmes

text: In 1993, DeLorenzo departed the group to act and make solo records. Guy Hoffman, formerly of the Oil Tasters and BoDeans, was brought in to tour what was to become one of the Violent Femmes' biggest-selling records, the "Add It Up (1981–1993)" collection. Over the next nine years, the band, with Hoffman, recorded five full-length CDs and a handful of one-offs for motion picture soundtracks, such as "I Swear It (I Can Change)" from the , "Color Me Once" for the soundtrack to "The Crow" and other compilation projects. The first full studio album with Hoffman on drums, "New Times" (Elektra Records), was released in 1994, and the band scored another minor hit with the song "Breakin' Up". "Rock!!!!!" (Mushroom Records) was released in 1995 in Australia only, though it has since become available in the United States.


title: Violent Femmes

text: "Viva Wisconsin", a live album, was released in the United States in 1999 on the independent label Beyond and was followed by "Freak Magnet" in 2000. "Something's Wrong" (2001), an album of unreleased studio tracks, covers, demos and acoustic live performances was released as an MP3-only album through eMusic. In 2002, Rhino Records repackaged the band's 1983 debut album, along with demos and live tracks, to coincide with a 20th-anniversary reissue. DeLorenzo asked to rejoin for what was to be a farewell tour, thus reinstating the original lineup.


title: Violent Femmes

text: For the 2002 "SpongeBob SquarePants" First Complete Season DVD, the Violent Femmes recorded a 34-second cover of the "SpongeBob" theme. They also recorded a 30-second commercial for Nickelodeon.


title: Violent Femmes

text: 2005 saw the release of two collections of past work—a CD called "" on Slash/Rhino and a DVD, "Permanent Record – Live & Otherwise" from Rhino, which showcases a concert performance from 1991, along with many of the group's videos. The CD is the first release that recognizes all four musicians and their contributions on the same disc.


title: Violent Femmes

text: After touring in promotion of "Freak Magnet", primary songwriter Gano decided that the band would no longer make new music, but would continue to play shows when booked. On New Year's Eve of 2005, and for one show in January 2006, all four Violent Femmes members played together.


title: Violent Femmes

text: In 2007, Gano angered Ritchie by selling advertising rights for the classic "Blister in the Sun" to Wendy's.


title: Violent Femmes

text: Although nearly all of the band's songs, including "Blister in the Sun," credit Gano as the sole songwriter, Ritchie responded to the use of the song in the commercial by saying:


title: Violent Femmes

text: "For the fans who rightfully are complaining about the Wendy's burger advertisement featuring "Blister in the Sun," Gordon Gano is the publisher of the song and Warners is the record company. When they agree to use it there's nothing the rest of the band can do about it, because we don't own the song or the recording. That's showbiz. Therefore when you see dubious or in this case disgusting uses of our music you can thank the greed, insensitivity and poor taste of Gordon Gano, it is his karma that he lost his songwriting ability many years ago, probably due to his own lack of self-respect as his willingness to prostitute our songs demonstrates. Neither Gordon (vegetarian) nor me (gourmet) eat garbage like Wendy's burgers. I can't endorse them because I disagree with corporate food on culinary, political, health, economic and environmental grounds. However, I see my life's work trivialized at the hands of my business partner over and over again, although I have raised my objections numerous times. As disgusted as you are I am more so."


title: Violent Femmes

text: Ritchie filed a lawsuit against Gano in August 2007, seeking half ownership of Violent Femmes' music and access to royalty accounting. Many speculated this would lead to the band's breakup. However, on June 17, 2008, the band released a cover of "Crazy" by Gnarls Barkley, who had previously covered "Gone Daddy Gone".


title: Violent Femmes

text: In January 2013, it was announced that Violent Femmes would be reuniting and performing at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April. They performed there, the Bottlerock Napa Valley in May and Milwaukee's Summerfest in June. The band was also on the bill for Riot Fest, which took place in Chicago in September 2013.


title: Violent Femmes

text: Drummer Victor DeLorenzo said in March 2013 that he would be open to recording new material with the Violent Femmes, but on July 15, 2013, it was announced that Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione would replace DeLorenzo as the band's drummer. In a statement, DeLorenzo said "It's always hard to write a eulogy for a lost loved one. In this case, I sadly lament the loss of a dream and an ideal that was once Violent Femmes."


title: Violent Femmes

text: The Violent Femmes played three shows in Australia as part of the 2013/2014 Falls Festival, performing at Marion Bay on December 30, Lorne on December 31 and Byron Bay on January 2. On May 11, 2014, they performed at the Shaky Knees music festival in Atlanta, Georgia.


title: Violent Femmes

text: The band played several shows in Australia around the start of 2015, including the Woodford Folk Festival, the Sydney Opera House and MONA FOMA festival. In the midst of these performances, they recorded their first new material in 15 years on New Year's Eve 2014 in Hobart, Tasmania. These four songs were released on an exclusive four-song EP on clear 180-gram vinyl on April 18, 2015, for Record Store Day. The band then joined Barenaked Ladies and Colin Hay on a two-month tour in the summer of 2015.


title: Violent Femmes

text: In January 2016, Viglione announced via his Facebook page that he had "handed in his resignation" to the band, adding that he was "grateful to have had the experience."


title: Violent Femmes

text: Later that month, the band announced that its first full album in 16 years, "We Can Do Anything" would be released on March 22, 2016. Viglione is credited as the drummer on the album.


title: Violent Femmes

text: Drummer John Sparrow, who began playing cajón in the Femmes' backing band, the Horns of Dilemma, in August 2005, joined the band as its new drummer after Viglione's exit. On February 23, 2016, he appeared with the band on "The Late Show with Stephen Colbert" to promote "We Can Do Anything."


title: Violent Femmes

text: On April 30, 2019, the band announced a new studio album, "Hotel Last Resort", released on July 26, 2019.


title: Violent Femmes

text: In July 2019, the band returned to the East Side neighborhood of Milwaukee, in and around the street art destination Black Cat Alley, to film the music video for the single "I'm Nothing".


title: Violent Femmes

text: In their shows, the Femmes employ a horn section called the Horns of Dilemma. For many years, it consisted of Peter Balestrieri, Steve MacKay on saxophones and Sigmund Snopek III on keyboards and other instruments. It was augmented by various musicians who the band invited to play with them. The band now uses local acquaintances, famous or otherwise, friends, relatives or associates of the band, particularly their road crew. Instrumentation varies widely and includes saxophones, trumpets, trombones, sousaphone, flute, clarinet, antique hunting horn, kazoo, and percussion. The group doesn't back up the band in the way that a traditional horn section would; instead, they provide a free-form noise jam. When the band plays "Black Girls" or "Confessions", the only direction given to the players is to play freely and as wildly as possible during certain sections. Currently, the leader of the Horns of Dilemma is Blaise Garza, who plays saxophone. Famous members have included John Zorn, Dick Parry, and the Dresden Dolls. Longtime band associates and employees who have played with the Horns include soundman Caleb Alexander and manager Darren Brown. Before becoming the band's drummer, John Sparrow played cajón, starting in 2005. Various bassists stand in for Ritchie during "Gone Daddy Gone," when he plays xylophone. These musicians are all considered members of the Horns of Dilemma.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ana Schweinsteiger ( / "Ana Švajnštajger"; born 6 November 1987), professionally known by her birth name Ana Ivanovic (Ана Ивановић / "Ana Ivanović", ), is a Serbian former world No. 1 tennis player. She gained the top ranking in 2008 after she won the 2008 French Open, and held it for a total of 12 weeks. She was also the runner-up at the 2007 French Open and the 2008 Australian Open, losing to Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova respectively. She qualified for the year-end WTA Tour Championships three times, in 2007, 2008 and 2014 and won the year-end WTA Tournament of Champions twice, in 2010 and 2011.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic won 15 WTA Tour singles titles, and one Grand Slam singles title, the French Open in 2008. Additionally during this time, she earned over $15.5 million in prize money, which is the 25th highest in the all-time rankings. In June 2011, she was named one of the "30 Legends of Women's Tennis: Past, Present and Future" by "Time" and was also included on the list of "Top 100 Greatest Players Ever" (male and female combined) by reporter Matthew Cronin.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Her breakthrough came at the 2004 Zurich Open, where she qualified and was narrowly beaten by Venus Williams in the second round in two tiebreak sets. By the age of 18, Ivanovic had already defeated established players such as Svetlana Kuznetsova, Nadia Petrova, Vera Zvonareva and Amélie Mauresmo. Ivanovic was known for her aggressive style of play and impressive forehand, described by Petrova as "the best out there."


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic's struggles after winning the 2008 French Open were well documented. After that victory, she was overwhelmed by attention and endured an ongoing period of reduced success, failing to make a Grand Slam quarterfinal in her subsequent 17 Grand Slam tournaments, and dropping as low as No. 65 in the rankings during July 2010. In 2012, Ivanovic reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since her French Open victory at the 2012 US Open, thereby achieving the feat of reaching the quarterfinals at all four Grand Slam tournaments, and finished with a year-end top 15 ranking for the first time since 2008. In 2014, Ivanovic enjoyed a resurgence, beginning with her victory in the Auckland Open, her first singles title in over two years, before going on to win the Monterrey Open, Aegon Classic and the Pan Pacific Open. She qualified for competition in the WTA Tour Championships and secured a year-end ranking of No. 5, signifying her return to the world's elite. In 2015, Ivanovic made it to the semifinals of a major for the first time in seven years at the French Open. In late December 2016, she announced her retirement, citing being no longer able to perform to a high standard as a major factor.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic was born in Belgrade, SFR Yugoslavia. Her mother, Dragana, a lawyer, has been court-side during most of her matches. Her father Miroslav, a self-employed businessman, attended as many events as he possibly could. Ivanovic has a younger brother, Miloš, with whom she loved to play basketball.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic first picked up a racket at the age of five after watching Monica Seles, a fellow Yugoslav, on television. She started her career after memorizing the telephone number of a local tennis clinic from an advertisement. During the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, she was forced to train during the morning to avoid bombardments. Later, she admitted that she trained in an abandoned swimming pool in the winter, as no tennis facilities were available. At 13 she moved to train in Basel, Switzerland, because of the better training facilities and coaching. Manager Dan Holzmann was living in Basel, and Ana and her mother moved to Switzerland when she signed an agreement with the Swiss entrepreneur.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: When she was 15, Ivanovic spent four hours in a locker room crying after a defeat – the first that her new manager had witnessed. She thought that Dan Holzmann would abandon her, thinking she wouldn't be good enough to become a professional tennis player. However, he remained her manager throughout her career.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic reached the final of the Junior Wimbledon tournament, losing to Kateryna Bondarenko. In 2004, she went 26–0 on the ITF Women's Circuit, and won all five events that she entered, two of them as a qualifier. As a qualifier in Zurich, she overcame a 5–1 third-set deficit along with two match points to defeat world No. 29 Tatiana Golovin. She then debuted in the qualifying draw of a major at the US Open, where she was defeated by Lioudmila Skavronskaia after winning the first set 6–1 and having two match points in the third set. Her first notable breakthrough occurred in the next tournament, when she took Venus Williams to two tiebreaks, before losing in straight sets in the second round of the Zurich Open. She had held several set points in both sets. She followed up her run in Zurich with a quarterfinal showing at Luxembourg the next week.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic won her first career singles title early in the year at the Canberra International, after defeating Melinda Czink in the final. Her ranking continued to rise after wins over Svetlana Kuznetsova in Miami, Nadia Petrova also in Miami, and Vera Zvonareva in Warsaw, all of whom were top-10 players. Ivanovic lost to Amélie Mauresmo at the Australian Open in the third round, at Doha in the third round after holding a 6–2, 2–0 lead, and at the Miami Masters in the quarterfinals. However, Ivanovic's biggest win to date then came over Mauresmo in the third round of the French Open. She advanced to the quarterfinals of only her second Grand Slam tournament by defeating Francesca Schiavone in the fourth round. Later in the year, Ivanovic reached the semifinals of the Zurich Open and Generali Ladies Linz, losing to Patty Schnyder in both tournaments. She finished the year ranked No. 16.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the season at the Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia with fellow Serbian Novak Djokovic, where the pair narrowly missed the final. To start off her WTA year, she played at the Medibank International in Sydney where she once again defeated Amélie Mauresmo, this time in straight sets, before falling to Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarterfinals. A week later, she lost to Samantha Stosur in the second round of the Australian Open.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic made it to the third round of the French Open, before losing to Anastasia Myskina. She progressed to the fourth round at Wimbledon, but lost to eventual champion and world No. 1, Amélie Mauresmo, in straight sets after beating No. 14 seed, Dinara Safina.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic made her breakthrough in August by defeating a formerly ranked No. 1, Martina Hingis, in the final of the Rogers Cup in Montreal before beating Jelena Janković, No. 14 seed Katarina Srebotnik and top-10 player Dinara Safina. This ultimately led to her winning the United States Open Series, ahead of Kim Clijsters and Maria Sharapova. At the US Open, she lost to Serena Williams.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic also played nine tournaments in doubles in 2006, teaming up with Maria Kirilenko and Sania Mirza. Ivanovic and Kirilenko made two semifinals and a final; they ended the year at No. 17 in the annual race to the Championships. Ivanovic finished the year ranked world No. 14 in singles and No. 51 in doubles.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the season in Gold Coast and Sydney where she reached quarterfinals. Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Ivanovic defeated Agnieszka Radwańska in the second round, but lost in the third round to Vera Zvonareva. Immediately after this tournament, she announced that she had split with her coach David Taylor. She then played in the Toray Pan Pacific Open. In the quarterfinals she beat No. 10 Janković, and in the semifinals the No. 1, when Maria Sharapova was forced to retire after Ivanovic had won the first set; but she lost in the final to Martina Hingis.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: During the American hard-court season, Ivanovic lost in early rounds. But on clay, she first went on to semifinal of Amelia Island and then managed to win her first Tier-I clay-court title in Berlin, defeating No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final in three sets. Ivanovic needed a tiebreak to finally finish the match. The win in Berlin propelled her into the top ten of the WTA rankings for the first time, at world No. 8.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic had a six-match winning streak heading into the French Open and increased this streak to twelve by reaching the final. She won her first three matches with the loss of only nine games. In her second career quarterfinal at Roland Garros, Ivanovic defeated world No. 3 Kuznetsova, and she then beat world No. 2, Sharapova, in less than one hour in the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic attempted to win her first major singles title and complete a sweep of the top three players in the world. However, world No. 1 and two-time defending champion Justine Henin won the match in straight sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At Wimbledon, Ivanovic defeated world No. 9 Nadia Petrova in the fourth round, and saved three match points to defeat Nicole Vaidišová in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, three-time former Wimbledon champion Venus Williams defeated Ivanovic in two sets after Ivanovic had a break in the second set.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: A persistent knee injury sustained at Wimbledon caused Ivanovic to withdraw from Serbian Fed Cup competition against Slovakia and two lead-up events to the US Open. She returned to the tour at the East West Bank Classic in Carson, California, saving two match points in the semifinals with huge winner before defeating No. 3 Janković in three sets. In the final, Ivanovic defeated top-10 player Petrova to win the fourth singles title of her career, which raised her ranking to a career-high of world No. 4.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In Ivanovic's first three matches at the US Open, she lost only ten games. Venus Williams then eliminated her for the second consecutive time at a major.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic returned to Europe for three tournaments. At the Tier II Luxembourg Championships, Ivanovic qualified for the Tour Championships by virtue of reaching the semifinals. In the final, Ivanovic rallied from 3–6, 0–3 down to defeat Daniela Hantuchová in two hours and 25 minutes. This was her fifth career title. In the quarterfinals and semifinals she beat Tatiana Golovin and Vera Zvonareva.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: To end the year, Ivanovic played in the Sony Ericsson Championships in Madrid. Seeded 4th and assigned to the Red Group during the round-robin phase, she defeated world No. 2 Kuznetsova and then Hantuchová in straight sets. She qualified for the semifinals but Sharapova defeated Ivanovic in the final match of the round-robin stage. Because she finished second in her group, Ivanovic played world No. 1 Henin in the semifinals, in which the Belgian won in two sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the year at the Medibank International, where she made the quarterfinals, eventually losing to world No. 1, Justine Henin, despite having had break points in the third set. As the fourth seed at the Australian Open, Ivanovic made it all the way to the finals, beating top-10 players Venus Williams for the first time in her career, and coming back from a 0–6, 0–2 deficit against Daniela Hantuchová. She was given the nickname "Aussie Ana" during the on-court interview with Todd Woodbridge following the victory over Williams. Ivanovic fell against Sharapova in a tight match in the final where Ivanovic had 0–30 at 5–4 in first set. Her ranking rose to world No. 3, the highest of her career at the time.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In Serbia's Fed Cup Europe/Africa Zone Group I D round-robin tie against Poland, Romania and Netherlands Ivanovic won all of her matches, as Serbia advanced to the World Group II playoffs in April. And soon Serbia qualified for World Group II, after beating neighboring country Croatia.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In March, Ivanovic defeated Svetlana Kuznetsova in the final of the Tier I Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells before wins over top-15 players Francesca Schiavone, Vera Zvonareva, and world No. 4 Jelena Janković, in the semifinals. She lost to Lindsay Davenport in the third round of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami the following week in straight sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started her clay-court season as defending champion at the Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin where she lost to Elena Dementieva for the fourth time in four meetings in the semifinals. In Rome she lost to qualifier Tsvetana Pironkova, but it couldn't demoralize Ivanovic, as she defeated Petra Cetkovská 6–0, 6–0 in the fourth round, No. 10 Patty Schnyder in the quarterfinals, and No. 3 Jelena Janković in a thrilling encounter in the semifinals of French Open. She went on to defeat Dinara Safina in straight sets in the final, winning her first and only major singles title.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At Wimbledon, Ivanovic saved match points against Nathalie Dechy, but fell against unseeded wildcard Zheng Jie of China in straight sets in the third round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the summer hard-court season with a third-round loss at the Rogers Cup in Montreal to Tamira Paszek. Ivanovic, bothered by a sore thumb sustained during practice two weeks before Montreal, withdrew from the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. Her withdrawal saw her lose the world No. 1 ranking to Janković. The thumb injury also caused her to withdraw from the Summer Olympics in Beijing, which Ivanovic described as "one of the worst moments of her career." Ivanovic, having reclaimed her world No. 1 ranking on 18 August, was the top-seeded player at the US Open, but lost to qualifier Julie Coin in second round. The loss was the earliest defeat of the top-seeded player at the US Open since the 1973 tournament.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In her first match after the US Open, at the Tier I Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic was defeated by Nadia Petrova in three sets, bringing her win–loss record since the French Open to 4–4. Ivanovic later told the press that she was "just happy to be back injury-free" and that she needed to "play more matches get back into rhythm." Ivanovic then played in Beijing, and after two great results, she lost to Zheng Jie in three sets despite winning 16 more points than her opponent.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Then she came back to Europe to play three more tournaments, first in Moscow where she lost to Dominika Cibulková after having two match points. In the Zurich Open, she lost in the semifinals to Venus Williams after leading 3–1 in the third set. Ivanovic played in Linz and won the tournament as a top-seed by crushing top-10 players Agnieszka Radwańska and Vera Zvonareva in the final.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the year-end Sony Ericsson Championships in Doha, Qatar, Ivanovic was seeded 4th. In her first round-robin match, she was defeated by world No. 1 Janković after she won the best point of the year. Her next match was against Zvonareva, to whom she also lost in three exciting sets. She withdrew from her final match against Kuznetsova because of a virus.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Australian Open, Ivanovic was seeded fifth and won her first two matches in straight sets before losing to 29th seed Russian Alisa Kleybanova in the third round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic took part in Serbia's Fed Cup win in the World Group II tie against Japan. She defeated Ai Sugiyama and Ayumi Morita to help Serbia to a 4–1 win. At the Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, a Premier-5 event, she lost to Serena Williams in the quarterfinals. Around this time, Ivanovic began working with her new coach Craig Kardon, after parting with former coach Sven Groeneveld.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, where she was defending champion, Ivanovic advanced to the finals, before losing to Vera Zvonareva. In Miami, Ivanovic lost in the third round to Ágnes Szávay. In April, she took part in Serbia's Fed Cup World Group Play-offs against Spain. She defeated Anabel Medina Garrigues to help Serbia gain promotion to the World Group with a 4–0 win.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the French Open, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets, before losing to Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round. This early loss caused Ivanovic to fall out of the top ten for the first time since May 2007. After the loss, Ivanovic announced that she would cease working with Craig Kardon, and would be participating in the adidas Player Development Program, where she would be coached by Sven Groeneveld, Darren Cahill, Mats Merkel and Gil Reyes.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At Wimbledon, Ivanovic was seeded 13th. She faced two match points against Lucie Hradecká, before prevailing. She then took down Sara Errani and 18th seed Samantha Stosur in the second and third rounds in straight sets, before retiring against eventual finalist Venus Williams.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Rogers Cup in Toronto, Ivanovic defeated Magdaléna Rybáriková in the first round and went on to face Lucie Šafářová in the second round where she was eliminated.<ref name="I have faith / Interview with Serbian tennis star Ana Ivanovic"></ref>


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the US Open, Ivanovic lost in the first round of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career by succumbing to Kateryna Bondarenko. After the match, former Wimbledon champion Pat Cash criticized Ivanovic's new service motion, stating that watching it was a "painful experience" and that it "weakened her threat." He also felt that Ivanovic was "over-analysing" her game and that her main problem was "her lack of confidence."


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Premier 5 Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, Ivanovic suffered her third successive defeat by losing to Lucie Šafářová in the first round. Citing an upper respiratory tract infection, Ivanovic pulled out of the China Open and announced on her website that she was taking the rest of the year off.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: She finished the year with a 24–14 match record, her worst since she turned pro, and did not win any titles. Ivanovic only reached three quarterfinals, one semifinal, and one final, and only won back-to-back matches six times. Ivanovic ended the year ranked 22, the first time she had been ranked outside the top 20 since July 2005.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the year in Brisbane. Seeded third, Ivanovic reached her first semifinal since Indian Wells in 2009. She eventually bowed out to wildcard Justine Henin in Henin's first tournament since her return from retirement. Ivanovic was seeded 20th at the Australian Open, but lost to Gisela Dulko in the second round in three sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: She then participated in the opening round of the Fed Cup in Serbia's tie against Russia, and she went 0–2 in her singles matches and also lost doubles match.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic announced that she would be working with Steffi Graf's former coach Heinz Günthardt on a trial basis during the spring North American hard-court season, suspending her relationship with the Adidas Player Development Program indefinitely. In her first match as Gunthardt's pupil, a one-set semifinal against reigning US Open champion Kim Clijsters in the 2010 Billie Jean King Cup at Madison Square Garden, Ivanovic lost in a tiebreak, despite having held match point. After the match, Ivanovic stated that she had noted improvements in her game.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Despite her improvements, Ivanovic lost her opening match in Indian Wells, suffering four consecutive losses for the first time. By also losing a huge number of ranking points, Ivanovic dropped out of the top 50 for the first time since March 2005. Seeded 25th in Miami, Ivanovic won her first match since the Australian Open, but then lost to Radwańska in the third round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic lost again to Radwańska at the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix. But unseeded in Rome, Ivanovic had her best week of tennis in nearly two years. She stunned top-10 players Victoria Azarenka and Elena Dementieva, and top-20 player Nadia Petrova, all in straight sets, before losing to eventual champion María José Martínez Sánchez in the semifinals. She was granted a wildcard into the Madrid Open, and received a bye in the first round due to her semifinal appearance at the Italian Open. She was the first unseeded wildcard to receive a first-round bye in the history of the WTA Tour. She lost in the second round to Jelena Janković, despite leading by a set and a break. Ivanovic entered the French Open unseeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 2005. She fell to Alisa Kleybanova in the second round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In the UNICEF Open, Ivanovic fell to seventh-seeded German Andrea Petkovic in the second round. Ivanovic was defeated in the first round of Wimbledon by 13th seed Shahar Pe'er, and as a consequence saw her ranking drop to world No. 64.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In the opening round of the Stanford, Ivanovic avenged her 2009 Australian Open and 2010 French Open defeats by beating Alisa Kleybanova, before losing in the next round to Marion Bartoli in straight sets. In Cincinnati, she rallied from a set and a break down to beat Victoria Azarenka in three sets. Ivanovic retired against Kim Clijsters in the semifinals due to a foot injury. Her ranking dramatically improved to world No. 39. The injury caused her to withdraw from New Haven. Unseeded at the US Open, Ivanovic breezed into the fourth round with straight-set victories, before losing to defending and eventual champion Kim Clijsters.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic lost her opener to Vera Dushevina in Seoul as the 7th seed. Ivanovic then defeated Kleybanova, the Korea Open champion, in the first round of Tokyo, before again losing to Bartoli in straight sets. Ivanovic avenged her losses to Bartoli at the China Open, beating the Frenchwoman in straight sets. On her way to the quarterfinals, Ivanovic scored top-10 victory by defeating Elena Dementieva for the second time in 2010. Ivanovic fell to world No. 1, Caroline Wozniacki.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Entering the Linz Open as a wildcard, Ivanovic defeated Patty Schnyder in the finals in straight sets, in just 47 minutes of play. Ivanovic headed to the BGL Luxembourg Open as the 4th seed, where she reached the quarterfinals, before falling to 8th seed Julia Görges.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic revealed that she had ended her coaching relationship with Swiss star Heinz Günthardt, because Gunthardt did not want to travel full-time and mixed his interest in tennis with being a Swiss television commentator.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: By virtue of her title in Linz, Ivanovic qualified for the last tournament of the season, the Tournament of Champions. She made it to the finals, where she defeated Kleybanova for her tenth career title and her second of the year. She won ten of her last thirteen matches. With her title in Bali, Ivanovic achieved a year-end ranking of No. 17, her fifth finish in the top 20.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the year with the Hopman Cup in Perth, Western Australia. She competed along with Novak Djokovic and they qualified for the final, but due to an injury sustained during Ivanovic's match against Justine Henin, Serbia was forced to withdraw. Along with the Hopman Cup, Ivanovic also withdrew from Sydney. Seeded 19th at the Australian Open she lost to Ekaterina Makarova in the first round in 2 hours and 47 minutes.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic then played in the PTT Pattaya Open, where she fell in the quarterfinals to 5th seed Roberta Vinci in straight sets. In Dubai she lost against Patty Schnyder in their last professional match for many years. She stated the loss was in part because of the abdominal injury sustained in the beginning of the season, and she subsequently withdrew from Doha.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In fourth round of Indian Wells Ivanovic beat Jelena Janković, but lost to Marion Bartoli in the quarterfinals. She then played in Miami and lost against defending champion Kim Clijsters in fourth round, despite having a 5–1, 40–0 lead in the third set and having five match points.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic joined Serbia in the 2011 Fed Cup event. Ivanovic scored a point for Serbia by beating Daniela Hantuchová in straight sets but had to retire in her next match against Dominika Cibulková, as she renewed an injury from the beginning of the season. Despite that, Serbia beat Slovakia in the deciding doubles rubber, 3–2.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in first round of Madrid, after winning first set with bagel. Ivanovic headed to Rome and was up nine games to love after Nadia Petrova retired. Ivanovic lost in next round to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets. Ivanovic again lost after first set at love, to Johanna Larsson in first round at the French Open. Ivanovic had a slight resurgence in Birmingham, reaching the semifinals, but lost to Hantuchová in three sets. Ivanovic lost to Venus Williams in the second round at Eastbourne.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Seeded 18th at Wimbledon, Ivanovic brushed aside Melanie Oudin and Eleni Daniilidou before falling to Petra Cetkovská. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic hired Nigel Sears, the head of women's tennis at the Lawn Tennis Association, as her coach. In Stanford, Ivanovic fell against Japan's Ayumi Morita in her opening match. Seeded 5th in Carlsbad, she avenged the previous week's loss by beating Ayumi Morita in straight sets despite trailing 0–5 in the second set. Ivanovic then cruised into semifinals. She eventually fell against top seed Vera Zvonareva in three sets. In Toronto and Cincinnati she won a total of three matches but against qualifiers. Seeded 16th at the US Open, she defeated Ksenia Pervak, received a walkover from Petra Cetkovská and beat Sloane Stephens in straight sets before falling to eventual finalist Serena Williams. She also played alongside fellow countryman Nenad Zimonjić in the mixed-doubles competition for the first time, but fell against Mariusz Fyrstenberg and Chan Yung-jan in two sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: During Tokyo Ivanovic recorded victories in straight sets over Anastasia Rodionova and wildcard Laura Robson, before losing to Maria Kirilenko. At the China Open Ivanovic beat Kimiko Date-Krumm, Svetlana Kuznetsova and world No. 3 Vera Zvonareva, losing total of ten games. But she then retired in second set against Agnieszka Radwańska in the quarterfinals due to a back injury.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic received a wild card to play the Tournament of Champions, which she defended, beating Roberta Vinci, Nadia Petrova and Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final, capturing her 11th WTA title. It was the first time she had ever defended her title in a tournament.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic began her season in Brisbane where she was defeated in the second round by fifth seed Kim Clijsters in three sets, despite leading 3–0 in the final set. Ivanovic's next event was in Sydney and she was sent out in the first round by Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. Ivanovic then headed over to the Australian Open where she reached the fourth round as a 21st seed. She beat three players outside the top 50, dropping no sets, but then met world No. 2, Petra Kvitová, and lost in two sets. She entered the top 20 of the world rankings after her run to the round of 16.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic next played in Doha. She fell to Petra Cetkovská in straight sets in the second round. Ivanovic then went to Dubai unseeded, where she upset Francesca Schiavone and beat Maria Kirilenko, before being defeated by 3rd seed Caroline Wozniacki. Ivanovic went over to Indian Wells as the 15th seed. She was able to make a run all the way to the semifinals, posting victories over former World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki and Marion Bartoli, who were both in the top 8. She retired against Maria Sharapova after losing the first set. In Miami she beat Daniela Hantuchová before losing to Venus Williams in fourth round, despite holding a one set lead. Despite this defeat she still moved into the top 15 for the first time since 2009 and became Serbian No. 1 for the first time since 2008.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic then headed to Moscow for the Fed Cup semifinals, where after losing to Svetlana Kuznetsova in three tight sets, recovered, and beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova to put Serbia ahead, 2–1. Fellow countrywoman Jelena Janković then closed out the tie for Serbia (3–2), sending the country into the Fed Cup finals for the first time in history.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic resumed tour action in Stuttgart, where she was beaten by Mona Barthel in two tight sets. She then headed over to the newly blue-clayed Madrid where she breezed past Mathilde Johansson and Nadia Petrova, before falling in straight sets to world No. 1 Azarenka, despite leading 4–1 in the first set. In Rome she avenged her Fed Cup loss against Kuznetsova, but fell to No. 2 Sharapova in straight sets, despite serving for the first set. Seeded 13th at Roland Garros, Ivanovic beat Lara Arruabarrena Vecino and Shahar Pe'er, losing only six games over the course of the two matches. Despite continuing in style and winning the first of the match, she lost to eventual finalist Sara Errani in the third round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Seeded 14th at Wimbledon, she worked for victories over María José Martínez Sánchez, Kateryna Bondarenko and 22nd seed Julia Görges to reach fourth round, her best result there since 2009. She then suffered a bad loss to 2nd seed Azarenka in the fourth round; winning only one game. Despite the loss, her run caused her ranking to rise to No. 12 in the following week.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: She made her Olympic debut at the Summer Olympics in London, participating in both the Women's singles and Mixed Doubles with Nenad Zimonjić. Seeded 11th in singles, she defeated Christina McHale and local Elena Baltacha in straight sets, before losing for the sixth time to Kim Clijsters in third round. She teamed up with Zimonjić for the mixed doubles competition, where they lost against India's Mirza and Paes in the opening round.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the 2012 Roger's Cup, Ivanovic was double bageled by Roberta Vinci in the second round. It didn't seem to affect Ivanovic at the US Open as she reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since winning the 2008 French Open title, and her first quarterfinal in New York. Ivanovic defeated qualifier Elina Svitolina and Sofia Arvidsson in straight sets, came back from a set down to beat young American Sloane Stephens in the third round followed by Tsvetana Pironkova in the fourth round. In the quarterfinals Ivanovic was soundly defeated by eventual champion Serena Williams for the second year in a row.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic then played in Tokyo, losing to Urszula Radwańska in round two; she then competed at the China Open reaching the third round, losing to Romina Oprandi in straight sets. She came with a winning streak to Linz, having won there previously in 2008 and 2010, but her streak was finished in quarterfinals against qualifier Kirsten Flipkens. Ivanovic headed over to Moscow and made it all the way to the semifinal, having had a bye in the first round then defeating two qualifiers in straight sets. She lost to Samantha Stosur in three sets, despite winning the first.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic did not qualify to defend her title in Bali, and did not receive a wildcard-entry due to her participation at the 2012 Fed Cup. Serbia took on the defending champions, Czech Republic. Ivanovic lost her first rubber against Lucie Šafářová, but won her second against Petra Kvitová. Which meant Jelena Janković had to win her rubber to take it to a tie, and go to a decider. Janković eventually lost her rubber against Lucie Šafářová. However, Ivanovic finished 2012 as the world No. 13, her best finish since 2008.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic kicked off the year by playing at the Hopman Cup with Djokovic. In her first round-robin match, she beat Italy's Francesca Schiavone. She beat Ashleigh Barty and in her final round-robin match defeated Tatjana Malek to put Serbia into the final, having defeated Italy, Australia and Germany. While playing Spain, Djokovic gave Serbia a 1–0 tie lead but Anabel Medina Garrigues tied up the final at 1–1 after defeating Ivanovic in a closely fought singles match. Serbia then lost the deciding tie in mixed doubles.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Australian Open, she successfully reached the fourth round of the tournament, progressing past Melinda Czink, Yung-Jan Chen and Jelena Janković. She eventually lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in two sets. Ivanovic played in Pattaya City as the No. 1 seed but lost in the first round to Ayumi Morita. Ivanovic was then scheduled to play at the Fed Cup but withdrew due to shoulder injuries. Ivanovic competed at the Qatar Total Open as the 12th seed. She made a run to the third round, but lost to Agnieszka Radwańska, despite breaking her in the 12th game and having the chance to serve out for the second set. She reached the second round of the Dubai Tennis Championships, before losing narrowly to Petra Kvitová.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic received a first round bye at the BNP Paribas Open. In her second round match, she defeated American teenager Taylor Townsend losing just three games. In the third round, she lost in three sets to big-serving Mona Barthel from Germany. At the subsequent Premier Mandatory event Sony Open Tennis, Ivanovic exacted revenge on Urszula Radwańska by dishing out a two set drubbing and cruised past two-time grand slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova. However, Ivanovic lost to eighth seeded Errani in three sets in the fourth round. Ivanovic then took part in the Monterrey Open and was defeated in the second round by defending champion Tímea Babos from Hungary. This marked the first time since the 2008 US Open that Ivanovic had lost to an opponent ranked outside the top 100.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Despite a slow start to the 2013 season, Ivanovic made good progress in the clay season. Notably, she defeated upcoming players Mona Barthel (who she lost to at Indian Wells) and Laura Robson, as well as higher-seeded players Nadia Petrova at Stuttgart and Angelique Kerber twice at the Fed Cup week two playoffs and at the Mutua Madrid Open. As a result of Ivanovic's more consistent tennis in the clay season, she reached the quarterfinals in Stuttgart despite not being seeded, and managed to reach the semifinals of the Premier Mandatory Madrid Open for the first time in her career. In both Stuttgart and Madrid, her runs were routed by 2012 French Open champion Maria Sharapova. Unfortunately, after good runs at two clay-court tournaments, she dropped her opener in Rome against Urszula Radwańska. At the French Open she stormed past three opponents to the fourth round, only to fall in straight sets to Agnieszka Radwańska for the third time in the year.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At Wimbledon, she won her first round match-up against Virginie Razzano, but in the second round Ivanovic would be knocked out of the tournament by Eugenie Bouchard.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In July, Sears and Ivanovic part ways and she hired Nemanja Kontic as her coach. Ivanovic had a sub-par summer hard-court season, only managing to defeat one other seeded player. At Carlsbad, she defeated Roberta Vinci before getting edged out by world No. 2, Victoria Azarenka, in the semifinals. In Toronto, she made quick work of Hsieh Su-wei and Flavia Pennetta in straight sets, before losing to Li Na in three sets. Ivanovic was up 5–2 in the third set, but was unable to serve out the match and eventually lost when she sent a backhand long in the tiebreak. Ivanovic dropped her opener in Cincinnati to Alizé Cornet. At the US Open, Ivanovic made it to the fourth round, narrowly scraping past American player Christina McHale in the third round by erasing two of her opponent's match points. Ivanovic made a whopping 51 unforced errors in her match against Christina McHale. In the fourth round, Ivanovic lost to Victoria Azarenka again in three sets. By winning the first set in her fourth round loss to Victoria Azarenka, Ivanovic won her first set against a top ten opponent at a major since she won the 2008 French Open, ending a streak of 15 consecutive sets lost against a top-ten seed.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic then headed to Asia for the Premier events in Tokyo and Beijing after a two-week break. In the former, she routed young German Annika Beck before cruising past Elina Svitolina. In the third round, she lost to Anqelique Kerber for the first time. In the latter, she moved past Flavia Pennetta in two sets despite trailing 5–1 in the first set. She was then defeated surprisingly by Polona Hercog of Slovenia in straight sets. Ivanovic then headed to Linz and progressed to the final without dropping a set, beating Yanina Wickmayer, Francesca Schiavone, Dominika Cibulková and Stefanie Vögele before being edged out in the final by Kerber once more, despite having saved three match points and had four set points of her own to take the match into a decider. She then took part in the Kremlin Cup in Moscow as the fourth seed, receiving a bye in the first round before breezing past Klára Koukalová for the loss of just four games. In the last eight, she was edged out by Samantha Stosur, who had also beaten her in the semifinals the year before.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Tournament of Champions, Ivanovic was allocated into the Sredets Group alongside Samantha Stosur, Elena Vesnina and Tsvetana Pironkova. In her first round-robin match, Ivanovic captured a two-set victory over Pironkova. She then went on to defeat Stosur. She needed one more victory to come first in her group. However, Ivanovic lost to Vesnina for the second time this year despite leading 5–2 in third set and serving two times for the match. But despite losing, she still qualified for the semifinals by winning a set, therefore coming second in her group (after Stosur). In her semifinal match, she lost to eventual champion Simona Halep despite leading 3–0 in third set with two breaks in her own.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the 2014 season by winning the title in Auckland, defeating Venus Williams in the final in three sets, for her 12th title and her first since November 2011. At the Australian Open, she defeated No. 1 ranked Serena Williams in the fourth round for her first win over Williams, after battling past Samantha Stosur in three sets. She lost to 30th seed Canadian Eugenie Bouchard in the quarterfinals in three sets. On set point for Bouchard, Ivanovic double-faulted.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the next four tournaments of the Asian and American series, Ivanovic failed to make the quarterfinals at all of them. She beat top players such as Angelique Kerber (saving match point) in Dubai and Flavia Pennetta in Miami. But there were some big outages like a double bagel against Petra Kvitová after Ivanovic won the first set. In Monterrey, Ivanovic was the second seed and went on to win her second title of the year, by defeating third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the semifinals and Jovana Jakšić in the WTA's first-ever all-Serbian final.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Representing Serbia in Fed Cup against Romania, Ivanovic lost against Sorana Cîrstea, but beat world No. 5 Simona Halep in straight sets. Serbia would go on to lose the tie 1–4.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic then participated in Stuttgart where she made it all the way to the final, achieving back-to-back finals for the first time in her career. It was also the first time in five years, since the 2009 BNP Paribas Open, that Ivanovic had reached a Premier level final. En route she achieved other career milestones, defeating Julia Görges for her 400th career win and world No. 6, Jelena Janković, for her 40th career top-10 win. She eventually lost to two-time defending champion Maria Sharapova in the final in three sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In Madrid, Ivanovic won her first three matches in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Simona Halep in just one hour. Ivanovic gained revenge for her Stuttgart defeat against Sharapova at the Italian Open, whom she defeated in the third round in straight sets, thus becoming the only person to defeat Sharapova on clay that year. The win was significant most of all because she became the first player other than Serena Williams to defeat Sharapova on clay since 2011, ended her winning streak in Rome (Sharapova was 47–3 on the surface and was undefeated in Rome since 2011) and was the only player to beat the Russian on clay in 2014. It was also the first time since the semifinals at the 2007 French Open that Ivanovic had defeated Sharapova. Against Serena Williams, in her second appearance in the Rome semifinals, she lost in three sets; she was the only player to take a set off Williams in the whole tournament.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At Roland Garros Ivanovic was the 11th seed. This was her best Grand Slam seeding since the 2009 US Open where she was the same seed. In the first two rounds, she defeated rising stars, Caroline Garcia and Elina Svitolina, before falling to 23rd seed Lucie Šafářová in straight sets. This marked the fifth straight time that Šafarova had beaten Ivanovic.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic made a quick transition from clay to grass as she won her first grass-court title in Birmingham, as the first seed. Ivanovic beat Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, a later Wimbledon quarterfinalist, in the final. In all matches, she lost five or less games. At Wimbledon Ivanovic came in again as the 11th seed. She started well, with wins over Zheng Jie and Francesca Schiavone, all in straight sets. In third round she faced grass court specialist and 2013 Wimbledon runner-up, Sabine Lisicki. She won their match played earlier in the season. However, she would go on to lose in three sets. The match was particularly strange due to it being played over three days over the Middle Sunday. The first part was played on Saturday and with Lisicki leading 6–4, 1–1, the match was suspended due to bad light. On Monday match was played in two parts, being paused due to rain. In the first period of play, Ivanovic had momentum on her side. Upon resumption, Lisicki would go on to win seven of the next nine games. After Wimbledon, Ivanovic did not renew her contract with coach Nemanja Kontic. She hired Dejan Petrovic as her coach.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started the US Open Series in Stanford, avenging her Wimbledon loss by defeating Sabine Lisicki in straight sets. Ivanovic eventually lost in the quarterfinals in three sets to Serena Williams in their third three-set match of the year. As a result of her quarterfinals run, Ivanovic returned to the top ten in the WTA rankings for the first time since 2009. Then at the Rogers Cup, Ivanovic lost to eventual quarterfinalist CoCo Vandeweghe in the second round; but in Cincinnati, she reached the Premier-5 final, beating Russians Svetlana Kuznetsova and 5th seed Sharapova in the process. Against Sharapova, Ivanovic served for the match in the second set, but lost the next four games. Sharapova then served for the match, but Ivanovic saved two match points and went on to victory to set up the final match against Serena Williams. Ivanovic opened the match well, with a break and break points, but did not convert them and Williams broke back. Ivanovic won just two games after that start.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the US Open, Ivanovic was seeded 8th, her highest Grand Slam seeding since the 2009 French Open. In the first round she beat American Alison Riske in straight sets only allowing her opponent to win three games, but was upset by unseeded Czech Karolína Plíšková in the second round in two close sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The following month, Ivanovic played in Tokyo, defeating former world No. 1 Azarenka, Šafářová (ending her five-match losing streak against the Czech) and top-seed Angelique Kerber to reach the final. She then beat reigning US Open finalist Wozniacki in straight sets for her 15th title. She marked some personal achievements: this was her 52nd win and fourth title of the season, both personal bests. In Wuhan, she had to play the day after winning Tokyo and decided to retire in the second set of the match against Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. Ivanovic came into Beijing refreshed and beat Belinda Bencic, Romina Oprandi and Lisicki, all in straight sets. She set a quarterfinal clash with Simona Halep, but the world No. 2 had to withdraw allowing Ivanovic to advance to the semifinals. Ivanovic lost to Sharapova, but with those points she secured her spot in the WTA Finals.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Having qualified for the Tour Championships, Ivanovic was drawn into the Red Group alongside Serena Williams, Halep and Bouchard. In Ivanovic's first match of the tournament, against top-seed Serena Williams, she lost in straight sets. However, she clinched victory in her second match, against Bouchard. Despite defeating Halep in her final round-robin match, Ivanovic was unable to progress since she dropped a set in the process. In doing so, she became the first player since Lindsay Davenport in 2004 to not progress to the semifinals with a 2–1 record in RR play. However, Ivanovic did finish the year ranked No. 5, her second best year-end ranking since turning pro.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Following the end of the season, Ivanovic played and defeated world No. 1 Serena Williams in straight sets in an exhibition match in Denmark. She also went on to participate in the inaugural International Premier Tennis League held in cities across Asia. As part of the Micromax Indian Aces, Ivanovic played alongside many big names, including Roger Federer and Pete Sampras. Due to the new, fast-paced format unique to the IPTL, Ivanovic only played one set per match, representing her team in the women's singles category. The Aces went on to clinch the title, with Ivanovic amassing a total of nine wins and three losses.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic began her 2015 season reaching final of the Brisbane International. She lost one set against Kaia Kanepi en route. By beating Varvara Lepchenko, Ivanovic set up a final clash against Maria Sharapova, which she lost despite taking the first set in a tiebreak. Ivanovic entered the Australian Open as the fifth seed, but lost in the opening round in three sets to qualifier Lucie Hradecká, losing for the third time to a Czech player in her last four major appearances. She later revealed that she was struggling with a toe injury during the match. At her next tournament in Dubai, she lost just three games against Sabine Lisicki in the second round, but struggles continued as she lost to Karolína Plíšková in three sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic was the defending champion in Monterrey, but she lost Caroline Garcia in the semifinals. In Indian Wells, things didn't go better, as she lost two more times to Garcia in both doubles and singles. In Miami Ivanovic beat Irina Falconi in the second round in three sets before losing in the third round to Sabine Lisicki in straight sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started her clay-court season with a third straight loss to Garcia in Stuttgart, where she was defending finalist points. Prior to the Madrid Open, Ivanovic parted ways with coach Dejan Petrovic. After two months, Ivanovic managed to win back-to-back matches, reaching the third round where she lost to an in-form Carla Suárez Navarro in three sets. She then played in the Italian Open and lost in the second round to qualifier and eventual semifinalist, Daria Gavrilova, in three sets after failing to serve out the match in the third set. Ivanovic entered the French Open as the seventh seed. In the first and second rounds, she came back from a set down to beat Yaroslava Shvedova and Misaki Doi, and with her third-round victory over Donna Vekić, Ivanovic reached 100 wins at Grand Slam events. In the fourth round, she beat Ekaterina Makarova in three sets, and in the quarterfinals, she beat Elina Svitolina in straight sets to advance to the semifinals of a major for the first time since she won the title in Paris back in 2008. She lost to Lucie Šafářová in two tight sets despite being up 5–2 in the first set.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic started her grass-court season at the Birmingham Classic as the defending champion. She failed to defend her title, losing in the second round to Michelle Larcher de Brito in three sets despite serving for the match in the third set. Ivanovic entered Wimbledon as the seventh seed. She easily beat Xu Yifan in the first round in straight sets but then lost in the second round to Bethanie Mattek-Sands in straight sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In late July, she went back to working with former coach, Nigel Sears. Ivanovic began her summer hard-court season at the Rogers Cup where she was seeded fifth. She beat qualifiers Olga Govortsova and Polona Hercog to advance to the quarterfinals for the first time since 2006. She lost to eventual champion, Belinda Bencic in straight sets. Ivanovic then played at the Western & Southern Open where she was defending finalist points. After receiving a walkover in the second round from Venus Williams, she beat Sloane Stephens in three sets to set up a rematch of last year's final against Serena Williams in the quarterfinals which she lost in three sets despite being up a set and a break in both the second and third sets. Ivanovic next played at the US Open as the seventh seed. She lost in the first round to Dominika Cibulková in three sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic began her Asian hard court swing at the Toray Pan Pacific Open. As the defending champion, she beat Camila Giorgi in the second round in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals where she lost to Cibulková in straight sets. Ivanovic's next tournament was the Wuhan Open. She easily beat both Alexandra Dulgheru and Madison Brengle to advance to the third round where she lost to Garbiñe Muguruza in three sets. Her next tournament was the China Open. She beat Casey Dellacqua to advance to the second round, where she defeated an in-form Venus Williams in straight sets, winning the last six games of the second set in a row after going down an early break. She followed up the win by beating Kuznetsova and Pavlyuchenkova to advance to the semifinals where she lost to Timea Bacsinszky in three sets. The loss ended Ivanovic's chances to qualify for the WTA Finals.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: She then played at the BGL Luxembourg Open. After beating Heather Watson, she lost to Alison Van Uytvanck in three tight sets. Despite not qualifying for the WTA Finals, she did qualify for the WTA Elite Trophy, but she withdrew. Ivanovic ended the year at No. 16.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: At the Auckland Open Ivanovic was seeded second but lost in the first round to British qualifier Naomi Broady in straight sets. Ivanovic took a wildcard into the Apia International Sydney and lost in the first round to Karolína Plíšková in straight sets. During the Australian Open, she beat Tammi Patterson and Anastasija Sevastova, both in straight sets to advance to the third round. Ivanovic lost to Madison Keys in three sets despite being up a set and a break in both the second and third sets. During the match Ivanovic's coach, Nigel Sears collapsed and was taken to a hospital where it was later confirmed that he was conscious.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic's next tournament was the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy where she made it through to the semifinals. She beat Margarita Gasparyan & Kateryna Kozlova before losing to Roberta Vinci in straight sets. At the Dubai Tennis Championships, after defeating Daria Gavrilova and world No. 3, Simona Halep, Ivanovic lost to Barbora Strýcová. At Indian Wells she beat Camila Giorgi but then lost to Karolína Plíšková in round 3. In Miami she lost to Timea Bacsinszky. In Stuttgart she won her first-round match but then lost in the second round to Karolína Plíšková.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In the first round of the Madrid Open, Ivanovic beat qualifier Kateřina Siniaková in three sets, however, she lost to another qualifier Louisa Chirico in the second round. At the Italian Open, she beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round, but lost to Christina McHale in the second round. Ivanovic had a tough first-round match win at the French Open after she beat Océane Dodin in three sets. She defeated Kurumi Nara in the second round, but lost to Elina Svitolina in the third round. Ivanovic only won 15 matches in 2016 with the last coming in June. She played her career's last professional match in the first round of the US Open against Denisa Allertova and lost in straight sets. On 28 December, having been absent with injury since August, Ivanovic announced her retirement stating that she was no longer able to play to her high standards and win big tournaments, meaning it was time to move on from professional tennis and start a new chapter in her life.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic endorsed Nike apparel and shoes at the beginning of her professional career, but at the beginning of 2006 switched to rival Adidas. Ivanovic then signed a lifetime contract with the company. Ivanovic became an Ambassador for Adidas once she retired from competitive tennis. She is believed to be the youngest athlete, male or female, to sign a contract of such longevity. She started with the Wilson racquets, eventually using the painted H22. From the beginning of 2008 to the end of her career, Ivanovic used Yonex racquets. She previously used the RQiS 1 Tour XL 95, but at the beginning of the Western and Southern Financial Group Women's Open 2010 in Cincinnati switched to a prototype version of a new Yonex racket. Ivanovic played with the Yonex EZONE AI 98 model tennis racquet.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic was an offensive baseliner with an aggressive style of play. After winning the 2008 French Open and becoming No. 1, Ivanovic endured a decline in form. Many critics attributed this to lack of confidence. At the 2010 Australian Open, Hall of Famer Martina Navratilova commented that, "while she has absolutely no confidence in herself, she still fights till the last point." She since made some improvements to her playing style after appointing a new coach in 2010. As a result, she started to play with more confidence and won matches more consistently.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: She hit a serve at the French Open in 2007, the fifth fastest serve of all time on the WTA Tour. However, from 2009 to 2012, her service game was largely viewed as a liability instead of a weapon. This was because of her inconsistent ball tosses which were directly associated with her diminishing confidence. Nonetheless, in 2013, under the tutelage of Nigel Sears, her ball tosses became more consistent, allowing her to build her game on her powerful first serves.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic's flat and powerful forehand was her bread-and-butter shot that took the world by storm in 2007–08, propelling her to the top of the rankings. However, her backhand was a much weaker wing and was often targeted by players acquainted with Ivanovic's playing style. Her cross-court backhand generally lacked the depth required to throw her opponents off course.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: While Ivanovic's movement and net play were once considered to be her weaknesses, they both improved over the years. Towards the end she was considered to be considerably faster than when she started playing professional tennis.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic's best surface was clay, where her height allowed her to strike clean winners off high-bouncing balls. Nonetheless, she was capable of performing well on hard and grass courts as well. When she launched her re-branded site during 2010, she stated in her bio that she likes all surfaces.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic and her fellow Serbian Jelena Janković have encountered each other 12 times with Ivanovic having the advantage 9 to 3 in match wins (including a walkover). The pair played their first match against each other in an abandoned swimming pool used as a tennis court in Belgrade. A 9-year-old Janković won the match, beating the 7-year-old Ivanovic 7–1. When asked why Ivanovic has posed such a problem for herself, Janković remarked that she struggles to read Ivanovic's game mostly due to the fact Ivanovic likes to play short points. Ivanovic leads 2–1 on clay, 6–2 on hard courts and 1–0 on carpet courts.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The longest match contested between the two in the semi-finals at the East West Bank Classic in Los Angeles. In a match lasting two and a half hours, Ivanovic recovered from a 4–1 third set deficit, saving two match points en route, to defeat Janković on her way to the title. The most significant match between the pair took place in the semi-finals of the French Open, with the winner having assured of becoming world No. 1 and with both women bidding to win their first Grand Slam title. Ivanovic won the match, recovering from a 3–1 final set deficit to defeat Jankovic for the fifth consecutive time. Jankovic's win at the 2008 WTA Tour Championships in Doha later that year snapped a 5 match losing streak against her compatriot.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The relationship between the pair has been strained. Both have openly admitted in the past to not liking each other and have been involved in a number of high-profile spats on and off court. Ivanovic was criticized both by Janković and her mother after Ivanovic decided to withdraw from Serbia's Fed Cup World Group play-off tie against Slovakia, citing her poor form in 2010 which left Janković the only high-profile player to play the tie which Serbia lost 3–2. During the same weekend, Ivanovic was photographed having coffee with her boyfriend Adam Scott at the island resort of Palma, Majorca after which Snezana Janković denounced Ivanovic in the Serbian press Another high-profile controversy was after the pair's first meeting in two years in the second round of the 2010 Mutua Madrileña Madrid Open in Madrid where the match was marred however by an incident in which off court cameras appeared to catch Janković mocking Ivanovic's trademark fistpumps towards her mother and camp after the match. Janković admitted she found Ivanovic's fistpumps "irritating" but that it was not meant to be offensive and was in the heat of the moment. After their match in Indian Wells in 2011 however, Ivanovic stated she felt there were no real issues with Janković and both agreed that they have both put the past behind them, an opinion echoed again by Janković after their Australian Open encounter in 2013.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic and Svetlana Kuznetsova have met 14 times since 2005, Ivanovic leading the head-to-head 11–3 overall. Ivanovic leads 7–2 on hard courts and 4–1 on clay.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The pair first met in the fourth round of the 2005 NASDAQ-100 Open, Ivanovic coming back from a 5–3 final set defeat to win and notch her first ever career Top 10 victory. Ivanovic has won all of their significant meetings including their only Grand Slam encounter at the 2007 French Open en route to her first Grand Slam final and both their final meetings, at the 2007 Qatar Telecom German Open in Berlin and the 2008 Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells. Kuznetsova's first victory over Ivanovic came at the 2006 Medibank International in Sydney, which remains her only win against Ivanovic in a WTA event, her other two coming both in Fed Cup encounters in 2008 and 2012.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova have met 14 times, Sharapova leading the head-to-head 10–4. Sharapova leads 6–1 on hard courts and 4–2 on clay. Ivanovic leads 1–0 on carpet.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The pair first met at the 2006 Generali Ladies Linz which Sharapova won in straight sets. Ivanovic beat Sharapova at the 2007 French Open in straight sets easily to advance to her first Grand Slam final. They would meet again at a Grand Slam, this time in the 2008 Australian Open final dubbed the "Glam Slam" final which Sharapova won in straight sets. After that match the pair did not meet for more than four years until the 2012 BNP Paribas Open where Sharapova won after Ivanovic retired after winning the first game in the second set. Ivanovic would then lose the next four meetings that followed.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In 2014, Ivanovic defeated Sharapova for the first time since 2007 at the Rome Masters in straight sets. Their match at the Cincinnati Masters was a dramatic and controversial one. Ivanovic was up a set and a double break before a bad call was made that affected Ivanovic and allowed Sharapova back into the match to steal the second set. Then, in the third set, Ivanovic was up 1–0, 15–15 before she took a medical timeout, after which Sharapova took control of the set. Up 4–3 with a break, Sharapova double faulted on break point and sarcastically said to the umpire to "check her blood pressure" referring to the medical timeout that Ivanovic took earlier in the set. Sharapova broke right back to serve for the match. Sharapova had two match points but failed to convert both. Ivanovic would eventually prevail, recording her first win over Sharapova on the hard courts.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The pair did not need to wait long to meet in 2015, with both drawn as the top 2 seeds in the Brisbane International. Both players qualified for the final, but it was Sharapova who once again clinched victory on the hard courts, despite dropping the first set to Ivanovic in a tiebreak.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic and Nadia Petrova have met 14 times since 2005, Ivanovic leading the head-to-head 9–5 overall. Ivanovic leads 4–2 on hard courts and 5–1 on clay. Petrova leads 1–0 on both grass and carpet.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: The pair first met in the second round of the 2005 NASDAQ-100 Open with Ivanovic winning in straight sets. Later in the year, Petrova reached the semifinals of the French Open by defeating Ivanovic in straight sets in the quarterfinals. In the next two matches both players won one, and both were in a round of 16. Ivanovic won two significant matches in 2007. First, she beat Petrova in the 4th round of Wimbledon after a rollercoaster three set match. Later in the summer Ivanovic won in straight sets in their only meeting in a final, in Los Angeles. At that time, it was 4–2 for Ivanovic in their head-to-head, but Petrova won the next two meetings in two close matches to level the result. However, Ivanovic won five of the next six meetings, including the quarterfinals of the 2010 Internazionali BNL d'Italia when Petrova retired but after Ivanovic had won the first nine games, and the semifinals of the 2011 Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, which Ivanovic won in straight sets.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic's inspiration to begin playing was Monica Seles, who at that time played for Yugoslavia. In 2010, Ivanovic adopted Basel as her home away-from-home. She spent her spare time training and relaxing there and was quoted as saying she "appreciates Swiss solitude" and "I enjoy training here, especially in the summer."


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Aside from her tennis career, she also studies finance at a university in Belgrade, and Spanish in her spare time. On 8 September 2007, Ivanovic became a UNICEF National Ambassador for Serbia, alongside Aleksandar Đorđević, Jelena Janković, Emir Kusturica and Novak Djokovic. She takes a special interest in the fields of education and child protection. Ivanovic visited a primary school in Serbia during her inauguration and said that she is "also looking forward to going into the classroom and meeting many kids".


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In September 2014, Ivanovic began a relationship with German professional footballer Bastian Schweinsteiger. They married on 12 July 2016, in Venice. In 2018 she announced the birth of a baby boy in Chicago. In 2019, she gave birth to their second son.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic has appeared as a character in "Smash Court Tennis 3", released in 2007, "Virtua Tennis 2009", released in 2009, "Grand Slam Tennis" for Wii, also released in 2009, "Top Spin 4" and "Virtua Tennis 4" both released in 2011. She is also featured in "Grand Slam Tennis 2", released in 2012. She stars, among others, alongside Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Lindsay Davenport, Anna Chakvetadze, Venus Williams and Maria Sharapova.


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: Ivanovic appeared in a number of international magazines like "FHM" (Germany, United Kingdom, Australia), "Vanity Fair" (Spain), "Cosmopolitan" (Serbia), "Vanidades" (Mexico), "Grazia" (Serbia), "The Best Shop" (Serbia), "Sports Illustrated" (South Africa) and "Harper's Bazaar" (Serbia).


title: Ana Ivanovic

text: In early 2017, Ivanovic announced she was joining tennis technology company PlaySight Interactive as a brand ambassador.


title: Swallow

text: The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae, are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The term "swallow" is used colloquially in Europe as a synonym for the barn swallow. Around 90 species of Hirundinidae are known, divided into 19 genera, with the greatest diversity found in Africa, which is also thought to be where they evolved as hole-nesters. They also occur on a number of oceanic islands. A number of European and North American species are long-distance migrants; by contrast, the West and South African swallows are nonmigratory.


title: Swallow

text: This family comprises two subfamilies: Pseudochelidoninae (the river martins of the genus "Pseudochelidon") and Hirundininae (all other swallows, martins, and saw-wings). In the Old World, the name "martin" tends to be used for the squarer-tailed species, and the name "swallow" for the more fork-tailed species; however, this distinction does not represent a real evolutionary separation. In the New World, "martin" is reserved for members of the genus "Progne". (These two systems are responsible for the same species being called sand martin in the Old World and bank swallow in the New World.)


title: Swallow

text: The family Hirundinidae was introduced (as Hirundia) by the French polymath Constantine Samuel Rafinesque in 1815. The Hirundinidae are morphologically unique within the passerines, with molecular evidence placing them as a distinctive lineage within the Sylvioidea (Old World warblers and relatives). Phylogenetic analysis has shown that the family Hirundinidae is sister to the cupwings in the family Pnoepygidae. The two families diverged in the early Miocene around 22 million years ago.


title: Swallow

text: Within the family, a clear division exists between the two subfamilies, the Pseudochelidoninae, which are composed of the two species of river martins, and the Hirundininae, into which the remaining species are placed. The division of the Hirundininae has been the source of much discussion, with various taxonomists variously splitting them into as many as 24 genera and lumping them into just 12. Some agreement exists that three core groups occur within the Hirundininae, the saw-wings of the genus "Psalidoprocne", the core martins, and the swallows of the genus "Hirundo" and their allies. The saw-wings are the most basal of the three, with the other two clades being sister to each other. The phylogeny of the swallows is closely related to evolution of nest construction; the more basal saw-wings use burrows as nest, the core martins have both burrowing (in the Old World members) and cavity adoption (in New World members) as strategies, and the genus "Hirundo" and its allies use mud nests.


title: Swallow

text: The Hirundinidae have an evolutionarily conservative body shape, which is similar across the clade, but is unlike that of other passerines. Swallows have adapted to hunting insects on the wing by developing a slender, streamlined body and long, pointed wings, which allow great maneuverability and endurance, as well as frequent periods of gliding. Their body shapes allow for very efficient flight; the metabolic rate of swallows in flight is 49–72% lower than equivalent passerines of the same size.


title: Swallow

text: Swallows have two in each eye, giving them sharp lateral and frontal vision to help track prey. They also have relatively long eyes, with their length almost equaling their width. The long eyes allow for an increase in visual acuity without competing with the brain for space inside of the head. The morphology of the eye in swallows is similar to that of a raptor.


title: Swallow

text: Like the unrelated swifts and nightjars, which hunt in a similar way, they have short bills, but strong jaws and a wide gape. Their body lengths range from about and their weight from about . The smallest species by weight may be the Fanti sawwing, at a mean body mass of while the purple martin and southern martin, which both weigh in excess of on average, rival one another as the heaviest swallows. The wings are long, pointed, and have nine primary feathers. The tail has 12 feathers and may be deeply forked, somewhat indented, or square-ended. A long tail increases maneuverability, and may also function as a sexual adornment, since the tail is frequently longer in males. In barn swallows, the tail of the male is 18% longer than those of the female, and females select mates on the basis of tail length.


title: Swallow

text: Their legs are short, and their feet are adapted for perching rather than walking, as the front toes are partially joined at the base. Swallows are capable of walking and even running, but they do so with a shuffling, waddling gait. The leg muscles of the river martins ("Pseudochelidon") are stronger and more robust than those of other swallows. The river martins have other characteristics that separate them from the other swallows. The structure of the syrinx is substantially different between the two subfamilies; and in most swallows, the bill, legs, and feet are dark brown or black, but in the river martins, the bill is orange-red and the legs and feet are pink.


title: Swallow

text: The most common hirundine plumage is glossy dark blue or green above and plain or streaked underparts, often white or rufous. Species that burrow or live in dry or mountainous areas are often matte brown above (e.g. sand martin and crag martin). The sexes show limited or no sexual dimorphism, with longer outer tail feathers in the adult male probably being the most common distinction.


title: Swallow

text: The chicks hatch naked and with closed eyes. Fledged juveniles usually appear as duller versions of the adult.


title: Swallow

text: The family has a worldwide cosmopolitan distribution, breeding on every continent except Antarctica. One species, the Pacific swallow, occurs as a breeding bird on a number of oceanic islands in the Pacific Ocean, the Mascarene martin breeds on Reunion and Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, and a number of migratory species are common vagrants to other isolated islands and even to some sub-Antarctic islands and Antarctica. Many species have enormous worldwide ranges, particularly the barn swallow, which breeds over most of the Northern Hemisphere and winters over most of the Southern Hemisphere.


title: Swallow

text: The family uses a wide range of habitats. They are dependent on flying insects, and as these are common over waterways and lakes, they frequently feed over these, but they can be found in any open habitat, including grasslands, open woodland, savanna, marshes, mangroves, and scrubland, from sea level to high alpine areas. Many species inhabit human-altered landscapes, including agricultural land and even urban areas. Land-use changes have also caused some species to expand their range, most impressively the welcome swallow, which began to colonise New Zealand in the 1920s, started breeding in the 1950s, and is now a common landbird there.


title: Swallow

text: Species breeding in temperate regions migrate during the winter when their insect prey populations collapse. Species breeding in more tropical areas are often more sedentary, although several tropical species are partial migrants or make shorter migrations. In antiquity, swallows were thought to have hibernated in a state of torpor, or even that they withdrew for the winter under water. Aristotle ascribed hibernation not only to swallows, but also to storks and kites. Hibernation of swallows was considered a possibility even by as acute an observer as Rev. Gilbert White, in his "The Natural History and Antiquities of Selborne" (1789, based on decades of observations). This idea may have been supported by the habit of some species to roost in some numbers in dovecotes, nests and other forms of shelter during harsh weather, and some species even entering torpor. There were several reports of suspected torpor in swallows from 1947, such as a 1970 report that white-backed swallows in Australia may conserve energy this way, but the first confirmed study that they or any passerine entered torpor was a 1988 study on house martins.


title: Swallow

text: Swallows are excellent flyers, and use these skills to feed and attract mates. Some species, such as the mangrove swallow, are territorial, whereas others are not and simply defend their nesting sites. In general, the male selects a nest site, and then attracts a female using song and flight, and (dependent on the species) guards his territory. The size of the territory varies depending on the species of swallow; in colonial-nesting species, it tends to be small, but it may be much larger for solitary nesters. Outside the breeding season, some species may form large flocks, and species may also roost communally. This is thought to provide protection from predators such as sparrowhawks and hobbies. These roosts can be enormous; one winter-roosting site of barn swallows in Nigeria attracted 1.5 million individuals. Nonsocial species do not form flocks, but recently fledged chicks may remain with their parents for a while after the breeding season. If a human being gets too close to their territory, swallows attack them within the perimeter of the nest. Colonial species may mob predators and humans that are too close to the colony.


title: Swallow

text: For the most part, swallows are insectivorous, taking flying insects on the wing. Across the whole family, a wide range of insects is taken from most insect groups, but the composition of any one prey type in the diet varies by species and with the time of year. Individual species may be selective; they do not scoop up every insect around them, but instead select larger prey items than would be expected by random sampling. In addition, the ease of capture of different insect types affects their rate of predation by swallows. They also avoid certain prey types; in particular, stinging insects such as bees and wasps are generally avoided. In addition to insect prey, a number of species occasionally consume fruits and other plant matter. Species in Africa have been recorded eating the seeds of "Acacia" trees, and these are even fed to the young of the greater striped swallow.


title: Swallow

text: The swallows generally forage for prey on the wing, but they on occasion snap prey off branches or on the ground. The flight may be fast and involve a rapid succession of turns and banks when actively chasing fast-moving prey; less agile prey may be caught with a slower, more leisurely flight that includes flying in circles and bursts of flapping mixed with gliding. Where several species of swallows feed together, they separate into different niches based on height off the ground, some species feeding closer to the ground and others feeding at higher levels. Similar separation occurs where feeding overlaps with swifts. Niche separation may also occur with the size of prey chosen.


title: Swallow

text: The more primitive species nest in existing cavities, for example in an old woodpecker nest, while other species excavate burrows in soft substrate such as sand banks. Swallows in the genera "Hirundo", "Ptyonoprogne", "Cecropis", "Petrochelidon", and "Delichon" build mud nests close to overhead shelter in locations that are protected from both the weather and predators. The mud-nesters are most common in the Old World, particularly Africa, whereas cavity-nesters are more common in the New World. Mud-nesting species in particular are limited in areas of high humidity, which causes the mud nests to crumble. Many cave-, bank-, and cliff-dwelling species of swallows nest in large colonies. Mud nests are constructed by both males and females, and amongst the tunnel diggers, the excavation duties are shared, as well. In historical times, the introduction of man-made stone structures such as barns and bridges, together with forest clearance, has led to an abundance of colony sites around the globe, significantly increasing the breeding ranges of some species. Birds living in large colonies typically have to contend with both ectoparasites and conspecific nest parasitism. In barn swallows, old mated males and young unmated males benefit from colonial behaviour, whereas females and mated young males likely benefit more from nesting by themselves.


title: Swallow

text: Pairs of mated swallows are monogamous, and pairs of nonmigratory species often stay near their breeding area all year, though the nest site is defended most vigorously during the breeding season. Migratory species often return to the same breeding area each year, and may select the same nest site if they were previously successful in that location. First-year breeders generally select a nesting site close to where they were raised. The breeding of temperate species is seasonal, whereas that of subtropical or tropical species can either be continuous throughout the year or seasonal. Seasonal species in the subtropics or tropics usually time their breeding to coincide with the peaks in insect activity, which is usually the wet season, but some species, such as the white-bibbed swallow, nest in the dry season to avoid flooding in their riverbank nesting habitat. All swallows defend their nests from egg predators, although solitary species are more aggressive towards predators than colonial species. Overall, the contribution of male swallows towards parental care is the highest of any passerine bird.


title: Swallow

text: The eggs of swallows tend to be white, although those of some mud-nesters are speckled. The typical clutch size is around four to five eggs in temperate areas and two to three eggs in the tropics. The incubation duties are shared in some species, and in others the eggs are incubated solely by the females. Amongst the species where the males help with incubation, their contribution varies amongst species, with some species such as the cliff swallow sharing the duties equally and the female doing most of the work in others. Amongst the barn swallows, the male of the American subspecies helps (to a small extent), whereas the European subspecies does not. Even in species where the male does not incubate the eggs, he may sit on them when the female is away to reduce heat loss (this is different from incubation as that involves warming the eggs, not just stopping heat loss). Incubation stints last for 5–15 minutes and are followed by bursts of feeding activity. From laying, swallow eggs take 10–21 days to hatch, with 14–18 days being more typical.


title: Swallow

text: The chicks of swallows hatch naked, generally with only a few tufts of down. The eyes are closed and do not fully open for up to 10 days. The feathers take a few days to begin to sprout, and the chicks are brooded by the parents until they are able to thermoregulate. On the whole, they develop slowly compared to other passerine birds. The parents do not usually feed the chicks individual insects, but instead feed a bolus of food comprising 10–100 insects. Regardless of whether the species has males that incubate or brood the chicks, the males of all hirundines help feed the chicks. When the young fledge is difficult to determine, as they are enticed out of the nest after three weeks by parents, but frequently return to the nest afterwards to roost.


title: Swallow

text: Swallows are able to produce many different calls or songs, which are used to express excitement, to communicate with others of the same species, during courtship, or as an alarm when a predator is in the area. The songs of males are related to the body condition of the bird and are presumably used by females to judge the physical condition and suitability for mating of males. Begging calls are used by the young when soliciting food from their parents. The typical song of swallows is a simple, sometimes musical twittering.


title: Swallow

text: Species of hirundine that are threatened with extinction are generally endangered due to habitat loss. This is presumed to be the reason behind the decline of the critically endangered white-eyed river martin, a species that is only known from a few specimens collected in Thailand. The species presumably breeds in riverbanks, a much diminished habitat in Southeast Asia. As the species has not been reliably seen since 1980, it may already be extinct. Two insular species, the Bahama swallow and golden swallow, have declined due to forest loss and also competition with introduced species such as starlings and sparrows, which compete with these swallows for nesting sites. The golden swallow formerly bred on the island of Jamaica, but was last seen there in 1989 and is now restricted to the island of Hispaniola.


title: Swallow

text: Swallows are tolerated by humans because of their beneficial role as insect eaters, and some species have readily adapted to nesting in and around human habitation. The barn swallow and house martin now rarely use natural sites. The purple martin is also actively encouraged by people to nest around humans and elaborate nest boxes are erected. Enough artificial nesting sites have been created that the purple martin now seldom nests in natural cavities in the eastern part of its range.


title: Swallow

text: Because of the long human experience with these conspicuous species, many myths and legends have arisen as a consequence, particularly relating to the barn swallow. Roman historian Pliny the Elder described a use of painted swallows to deliver a report of the winning horses at a race. There is also the Korean folktale of Heungbu and Nolbu, which teaches a moral lesson about greed and altruism through the mending of a swallow's broken leg.


title: Swallow

text: During the 19th century, Jean Desbouvrie attempted to tame swallows and train them for use as messenger birds, as an alternative to war pigeons. He succeeded in curbing the migratory instinct in young birds and persuaded the government of France to conduct initial testing, but further experimentation stalled. Subsequent attempts to train homing behaviour into swallows and other passerines had difficulty establishing a statistically significant success rate, although the birds have been known to trap themselves in a cage repeatedly to get to the bait.