Ana Ivanović Reveals Strict Family Ban During Career Peak: “You Cannot Eat Dinner With Your Parents

Reflecting on her career in a recent appearance on the podcast "(Ne)uspjeh prvaka," the 38-year-old Serbian tennis star detailed the intense psychological and personal sacrifices that accompanied her rise to the top of women's tennis. While parents Dragana and Miroslav Ivanovic provided a constant support system throughout her career, high-stakes tournament environments occasionally demanded absolute isolation from familial comforts.

The 2008 French Open Coaching Directive

Her family, including her parents and brother Miloš, traveled to support her. Instead of enjoying family gatherings after grueling matches on the clay courts at Roland Garros, Ivanović faced a rigid rule.

"I remember something that my coach told me before every match, in the year that I won Roland Garros," Ivanović said in the podcast, as reported by German outlets. "At that time, my parents and my brother were in Paris. He said: 'Ana, you must not have dinner with your parents because it draws too much energy from you.'"

Rather than dining with her parents, Ivanović was restricted to spending time only with her brother Miloš and her fitness coach. Following meals at a recurring restaurant, she faced a strict curfew: "directly back to the hotel room."

"My brother and I shared a room back then," Ivanović recalled. "At nine o'clock we would always sit there and think about what we could do. I mostly read something while he watched television."

Psychological Aftermath and the Cost of Success

Though the restrictions felt isolating, Ivanović acknowledged that the formula yielded the ultimate athletic prize.

However, the psychological toll lingered long after the trophy presentation. The enforced solitude created a deeply ingrained mental association between self-denial and professional triumph.

"It paid off. I won the tournament then," Ivanović explained. Yet the experience triggered a lasting shift in her mindset: "In my head, I directly connected renunciation with success. Later in my career, when I wanted to relax a bit or go somewhere privately, I always felt like I wasn't allowed to. I thought: 'It will catch up with me and punish me if I do this. I will be tired. I won't be able to play tennis or train properly.'"

Simple pleasures, such as shopping excursions or spending a day at the beach, became sources of persistent anxiety and guilt as the demands of professional tennis shaped her daily life.

Life Beyond the Court

Years removed from her competitive playing days, Ivanović no longer operates under such austere private restrictions. The couple shares three sons—Luka, Leon, and Theo—who now occupy the central focus of her daily life.

The candid podcast revelations provide a rare, retrospective look at the hidden sacrifices demanded at the elite tier of professional tennis, contrasting the glamorous reality of hoisting a Grand Slam trophy with the solitary hotel-room nights that forged a champion.