After working her way back into the Top 5 in the WTA rankings with her remarkable 2014 season, Ana Ivanovic got off to a less than stellar start to the year when she was ousted in the opening round of the 2015 Australian Open.

The loss came as a surprise, considering the Serbian star had reached the final of the Brisbane International two weeks prior.

“With it (Australian Open) being such a big event, and because I was in good form coming into the tournament, I did have a bit more expectation. But unfortunately things didn’t go so well in the week leading up to the tournament,” she was quoted as saying by gulfnews.com.

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It appears that Ivanovic broke her toe ahead of the tournament and was unable to get herself in peak condition ahead of the season-opening Grand Slam event.

“I broke my toe and wasn’t able to practice as much as I’d planned. I felt quite stressed and these things combined meant that I wasn’t able to play my best tennis. But my opponent, Lucie Hradecka, played a great match and she deserved to win,”

The 27-year-old Ivanovic has been a consistent player on the tour, apart from her performances at the Majors. It is an issue that she is currently aware of and keen to fix en route to a second Grand Slam title.

“I haven’t had very good results in the Grand Slams lately so I need to work on my approach. Maybe I should try something different, so I can relax more when I’m playing these big events.”

Ivanovic is scheduled to take part in the Dubai Open next week, along with the remainder of the upper echelon of the WTA rankings.

“For sure, I can’t wait to get back on the court. The season is still very young and there is a lot to play for. I am looking forward, not back,” the 2008 Australian Open finalist said.