By OPEN DIARY ANA IVANOVIC
Unfortunately, Australia is so far from home that not all of my team can be here with me. My father and brother are in Belgrade and Dan Holzmann, who has been managing me since I was 15, is in Switzerland.
My mother, Dragana, travels to almost every tournament with me and she is here. She's the most important person in my career. When I was 12, my family made a very important decision: that my mother would always travel with me. This may seem like common sense, but you'd be surprised to know how many players travel and even share rooms with their coaches, not their parents, at a young age.
Looking back to when I was younger, I was vulnerable like any other girl in tennis, and having my mum around me was very important. She is my best friend too, so she's the perfect travel companion.
All of this was possible thanks to Dan. I met him in Basel six years ago. He is a businessman and heard that I was in need of assistance after my previous management agency went bankrupt. He agreed to finance my development, which was crucial because my family didn't have enough money to pay for my travel and coaches.
Not only did he pay my expenses, but my mum's, too. I've paid back all the money, and we have a special relationship - more friend-friend than manager-player. I owe him a lot.
One of the things I enjoy most during tournaments is having dinner with my whole team: my family, Dan, my fitness trainer, Scott, Gavin, who also works for my management company, and my advisor, Sven. They give me incredible support and they are all very dedicated, trustworthy people.
Scott has done an amazing job with my fitness. I wasn't always the most disciplined player, but since I started working with him, things have changed. He has made things fun by introducing activities such as kick-boxing and surfing into my training.
Like most Australians I know, he is very laid-back and very easy to be around. This is important because, by necessity, as a player you have to spend an insane amount of time with your coaching team.
The intensity of the player-coach relationship is the reason I don't have a full-time coach. Scott is an exception, because he is so easy to get along with. Two of my last three coaches had quite intense personalities and, looking back, the relationships were always destined to be short-lived. Now I prefer to keep it more business-like: we work together on the court, but we give each other space. I enjoy having this freedom.
My team provides me with security and companionship. I am friends with other players, but at the same time we are competitors, so I am not extremely close to any of them. I would be very lonely if it wasn't for my team, and the pranks we play on each other.
A donation to UNICEF has been made on Ana's behalf for this column.