FanHouse Ana Ivanovic

She threatened a player, didn't try most of the year, famously threatened a line judge and was thrown out of a match.

The other thing Serena Williams did in 2009 was this:

She won the year-end No. 1 ranking. It became official Wednesday in Doha, Qatar, at the WTA Championships when Dinara Safina, the current No. 1 Williams was trying to overcome, withdrew from the tournament with a bad back. It guaranteed that Williams would finish the year No. 1 for the first time since 2002.

Two more things: She deserves it.

And it's the best thing for tennis.

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Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Ana Ivanovic is on top of the world. She is a star athlete, who was once ranked No. 1 in the world. That's not to mention she has millions of dollars and looks that stops traffic. But life wasn't always that easy.

In this FanHouse video, Ana talks to us about how she used to practice tennis while growing up in a war-torn Belgrade, Serbia (formally part of Yugoslavia). We also hear from Ana about her charity work and what she would rather have, her shoes or her racket.

Check out the video after the jump.

BEIJING (AP)-Ana Ivanovic has withdrawn from the China Open due to an upper respiratory infection, saying it seems like a fitting end to the season she's had.

Ivanovic said in a statement Saturday that it has been a very disappointing season.

The 21-year-old Serbian said her body was "quite fragile" following a combination of too much training and not enough recuperation.

NEW YORK -- It's so easy. No one is there to block it. There is no rush. You're on your time. You rest the tennis ball in a few fingers, put your thumb on top, arm low, cock your wrist back a little, then raise your arm a few feet and let go.

Ana Ivanovic can't do that anymore. She has the yips on her toss, a mental block stopping her from the easiest thing, something she has done her entire life without thought.

For a while last year, she was ranked No. 1 in the world. Now, one of the most sickening, broken-winged looking sites in tennis is watching her float the ball up, and then. . .catching it because it was in the wrong spot, and trying again.

What's so difficult about the toss?

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded Correspondent, brings his exclusive video reporting to FanHouse. Check back regularly for more videos.

Some of the biggest names in tennis, like Dinara Safina, Maria Sharapova and Ana Ivanovic, are competing this week in The LA Women's Tennis Championships presented by Herbalife, taking place at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. It's all part of the WTA Tour and has an impressive $700,000 purse. In this FanHouse Exclusive we talk to the No. 1 player in the world, Safina, about her ranking. We also find out from Ivanovic whether or not she enjoys all the attention she gets because of her stunning looks.

Check out the video after the jump.

WIMBLEDON, England (AP) -- Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon when opponent Ana Ivanovic retired one game into the second set Monday.

Williams, seeking her sixth Wimbledon title, led 6-1, love-1 when Ivanovic called it quits.

Ivanovic took a 10-minute break during the first game of the second set to have her left thigh taped by a trainer. She returned for two more points, but after hitting a service winner to take the game, she began crying as she walked to her chair and told the umpire she was retiring.

Each Wednesday during the golf season, FanHouse will list the top five names in golf and why they're important. Did Barack play 18 with Tiger? Did a certain player do something controversial off the course? Or was just playing golf enough to get the pot stirring? Join us for a weekly feature we call Making the Cut.

5. Ana Ivanovic -- Yep, she plays tennis, but she also is wooing a golf heartthrob away from the AT&T National hosted by Tiger Woods. Adam Scott, who is to the PGA Tour what Erin Andrews is to sideline reporting, has said he will miss the AT&T to go watch Ivanovic at Wimbledon. The word is they're dating, but nothing has been confirmed. I guess here's hoping Ivanovic makes it long enough so that Scott can sport his Burberry on the hallowed tennis grounds.

WIMBLEDON, England (June 23) -- Twice, Ana Ivanovic found herself one point from a surprising and disappointing first-round Wimbledon loss on Tuesday. But the former world No. 1 somehow found a way to survive, rallying past Lucie Hradecka 5-7, 6-2, 8-6.

Despite a slow start, Ivanovic had a chance to serve for the match up 5-4 in the third set, but flubbed away that opportunity. Two games later, she found herself facing match point on a pair of occasions before scrambling back to knot the set at 6-6.

Ivanovic then broke Hradecka -- screaming and jumping in elation after a Hradecka miscue left her with three break points -- and finally, on her second try, served out the victory.

PARIS (AP) - Rafael Nadal's unbeaten run at the French Open is over.

The four-time defending champion lost to Robin Soderling of Sweden 6-2, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4, 7-6 (7-2) Sunday in the fourth round, ending his record 31-match winning streak at Roland Garros.

Soderling, seeded 23rd at this year's tournament, ran Nadal ragged on center court with his hard serve and booming forehand.

"This is just one more match," Soderling said.

They had to gang up on Rafael Nadal. It was a tag-team effort in Madrid: First, Novak Djokovic softened him up with a four-hour death match. Nadal won. The next day, Roger Federer cleaned up on a tired Nadal with a sore knee.

But the point is, Nadal did fall on clay. It can be done! No one knew that for sure.

So we start the French Open on Sunday, the year's second major. Nadal has won it four years in a row. Can he be stopped now?