Ana is in action at the BNP Paribas Open, which begins in Indian Wells on Wednesday. The 23-year-old is seeded 19th and consequently receives a bye in the first round.
She will play either Yaroslava Shvedova from Kazakhstan or Japanese Kimiko Date-Krumm in round two, on Friday or Saturday. Provided Ana can overcome that hurdle, she could face 12th seed Petra Kvitova in the third round, while compatriot and defending champion Jelena Jankovic is a possible fourth round adversary.
Should she reach the last eight, Australian Open champion Kim Clijsters is Ana’s most likely opponent. Third seed Vera Zvonareva from Russia and fifth seed Francesca Schiavone could await in the semi-finals.
Ana is in the bottom half of the draw, so she cannot meet any player from the top half including top seed Caroline Wozniacki, No. 4 Samantha Stosur, No. 7 Na Li and No. 8 Victoria Azarenka.
Last year, Ana was dispatched in the second round by Anastasija Sevastova from Latvia 6-2, 6-4. However, the former world No. 1 retains good memories of the tournament, having reached the final in 2008 and 2009.
