Less than six months later, they had carried her to her first Grand Slam title at Roland Garros, the number one ranking in the world and seemingly a golden road to a permanent spot in the world's top five.

Unfortunately, the 22-year-old Serb's form has melted away since, and on Thursday she was beaten 6-7, 7-5, 6-4 by the unseeded Gisela Dulko in the Australian Open second round.

The Argentine had never advanced past the second round at Melbourne Park in six previous attempts.

Ivanovic has won just one tournament since her breakthrough Grand Slam victory in Paris, a Tier II event at Linz in 2008, and has failed to make it past the fourth round at any of the Grand Slams.

Ivanovic admitted she felt her brain was getting in the way of her game and she was overthinking situations when she was playing well, instead of allowing her instincts to take over.  "I start well and I play good, and then, because I have no expectation, I just go out there to enjoy," she said.

"Then I think 'I can play like this all the time' (and) then I get tense and I start making mistakes because I want to play like that (consistently).

"I just have to get rid of that a little bit and just try to play consistent all the time. It might not be at the highest level, but (I have to) just build on it. I think when I actually let go of (my) emotions ... that's when I play my best."