French Open champion Ana Ivanovic has been named the recipient of the 2008 Diamond Aces award.
The Sony Ericsson WTA Tour ACES Award is given to the player who consistently goes above and beyond to promote the sport of women’s tennis to fans, media, in the community and beyond.
“I’m very happy to win this fun competition,” said Ivanovic in a statement released by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour. “Being a professional tennis player is about a lot more than just hitting tennis balls and winning matches. The off-court side of things is also very important, and it’s essential that we as athletes do what we can to promote the sport. There have been a lot of enjoyable ACES activities this year. I always enjoy meeting fans, sponsors and other guests when I’m at tournaments. Two of my most enjoyable activities this year were playing doubles with some amateur players in Tokyo and the photo shoot we did in Dubai.”
“Ana is not only an incredible athlete and champion, but also a player who has earned the respect and admiration of fans, media and sponsors by continuously giving back,” said Larry Scott, CEO of the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour.
“Throughout the 2008 season, Ana has given of herself selflessly and been a true ambassador in promoting our sport.”
This year marked the second season in a row that a point weighted system was used to award each of the off-court activities performed by players at Sony Ericsson WTA Tour tournaments. After each event, the off-court contributions of each player are measured and the ACES Race standings are published on sonyericssonwtatour.com.
“Ana has made a significant effort to promote women’s tennis this year and it will give me great pleasure to present her with this award during the Sony Ericsson Championships,” said Aldo Liguori, CVP and Global Head of Communications and PR, Sony Ericsson. “It’s great to see some very strong contenders for the 2008 ACES Award and to recognise the players who are so dedicated and passionate towards promoting women’s tennis to fans and new audiences.”
The ACES award was first introduced in 1995, in memory of former Tour CEO Jerry Diamond. Since then eight players have won the award including Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Gabriela Sabatini, Amanda Coetzer, Lindsay Davenport, Martina Hingis, Anastasia Myskina and Svetlana Kuznetsova.
Ana deserves every award she gets – the sweetest, most humble young lady I have seen on the tennis courts ever. I am 70 years olf, and still have an eye for beauty – but she goes beyond that with an inner depth that is so unique.
[...] Ana Ivanovic was given the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour’s Diamond Aces award. [...]
My dad would be proud of the job Ana did for the game