Ana Ivanovic is keeping her targets narrow as she tries to continue her climb back up the rankings, saying her focus is on winning her first few matches at the Australian Open.

Ivanovic has not made it to the second week of a major since winning the 2008 French Open.

“That’s my goal, to get into the second week,” she said. “I feel good about my game and my fitness at the moment but I just don’t want to get too excited about the possibility of how far I can get, and it’s very important to just set realistic goals and, you know, aim for the second week and then take it day by day.”

But the former No. 1 also has broader ambitions in the longer term. “I want to get back into the top 10 and win another Slam,” she said.

Read More Tennis’s News from:

Lleyton Hewitt says he is enjoying a rare injury-free period and has taken advantage by putting in extra training time during the offseason.

The former No. 1, who underwent a second hip surgery shortly after this year’s Australian Open, reports he has been working “at least six days a week, some seven days, going as hard as I can.”

There’ve been no interruptions this year,” he said. “When you train extremely hard, as I have this year, sometimes you get little niggles throughout and you have to have a couple of days off here and there…there’s been none of that.”

Hewitt hopes the preparation will pay dividends as he targets his stated goal of returning to the Top 10. “If I feel confident and know I’ve done all the hard work, I can go out there and hopefully execute what I’ve been working on,” he said.

Read More Tennis’s News from:

By Jackie Roe, TW Social Director

Hey, everyone! Looks like we’ll be starting off 2011 with another Fedal final. A harbinger of things to come?

Let’s start off this special New Years Eve Deuce Club post with some TWibe announcements. First, this from GVGirl:

Due to the growth of the site and a marketing partnership, Global Village Tennis News is re-launching on Saturday as Tennis Panorama News (www.tennispanorama.com). Although the site is basically ready, TWibers can get a “pre-opening” peek right now. I’ll still be @GVTennisNews on Twitter; we have too many followers to change it. (Funny that at some events and tournaments I cover as media some people call me GV. LOL)

If it were not for Pete letting me do some Davis Cup coverage on the blog years ago, I probably never would have gotten back into sports coverage again. In a way, I, along with people like Bobby, CNote, and others, are like TWibe offspring who are making our own way in the tennis media world.

Congrats on all of your success, GVGirl, and thanks for the heads-up about your site!

Now, I have the results from Codge’s “Twennis” survey, which I linked to a few weeks ago. Click here to check ‘em out. (Awesome Tumblr page, Codge! Reading the results was just as fun as taking the survey.) I also have the results of our friend Jasmin’s tennis-themed survey, and you can find those here.

So, how about that holiday party yesterday, eh? That was a rollicking good time, and I was glad that so many folks showed up, including many of our “vets” who aren’t around much anymore. Not a bad way to wrap up 2010!

Well, not wrapping it up just yet. We’ve still got tonight . . .

Most of you already know that I’m not huge on celebrating New Year’s Eve. My NYE is usually spent with family, at home, drinking sparkling apple-grape juice, watching the ball drop on TV. It’s tradition, and it’s easy. I guess some part of me wouldn’t mind getting decked out and going to some extravagant hotel bash, but when I think about the crowds, the traffic, the drunkenness—just, the hassle—my cozy couch and PJs start to sound a lot more appealing. But far be it for me to judge anyone who goes the hassle route! It’s still more exciting than what I’ve got going on, for sure.

So tell us what you’re doing—or did, if it’s already 1/1/11 for you!—to celebrate NYE. Will you be at home, a bar, a house party? With your honey, family, friends, by yourself? Drinking champagne or the fake stuff?

And then there are those new year’s resolutions. I make them every year; nothing too elaborate or lofty, just little goals I set for myself. The new year signals a fresh start, the perfect time to put long-stewed-about plans—or even just a new attitude or perspective—into motion. (I’m reminded of a Massive Attack lyric: Your mind can never change/Unless you ask it to/Lovingly rearrange/The thoughts that make you blue/The things that bring you down/Only do harm to you/So make your choice joy/The joy belongs to you. Cheesy but rings true.) It’s silly, really—if I want to do something, why wait ’til January? And yet it works . . . I began 2010 on the right foot and reaped the benefits of this initiative for the rest of the year. I’m excited to repeat the process and to uncover what 2011 has in store for me.

What about you? How are you feeling about the new year? Any resolutions? (You can share tennis-related resolutions, too. One of mine is to do a better job following tennis this year. What’s that you say? I’m obsessed enough as is? Not so. I actually staggered a bit this year, falling behind on schedules and results, and it drove me crazy! I had that “last to know” feeling all throughout the season, so I’m determined to step up my game in 2011. Well, and hope that work and life don’t get in the way.)

Since this is obviously my last post of 2010, I want to take some time to thank you all for continuing to make this Social Director gig such a deeply rewarding and enlivening experience for me. I’m honored to be a member of the TW community and to help foster its growth, in some small way, through this Deuce Club space. I wish everyone a happy, healthy, and tennis-filled new year, and may we continue the fun here in 2011!

Read More Tennis’s News from:

at

Top-Ranked Rafael Nadal defeated Tomas Berdych 6-4, 6-4 Friday and will face Roger Federer in the final of the World Tennis Championships. Federer rallied to defeat Robin Soderling 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-3 in the other semifinal. Nadal, who won the tournament last year, struggled against the sixth-ranked Berdych’s serve at the start before taking charge in the ninth game.