The U.S. State Department has nominated Ana for its 2008 International Women of Courage Award. The accolade was created by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice in order to recognise exceptional women around the globe.

"This is a big surprise," said Ana. "It's a great honour and I'd like to thank them for paying me such a great compliment like this."

In addition to reaching No.2 in the world rankings and finishing runner-up at two Grand Slams, in the past year Ana became a UNICEF ambassador for Serbia. Since her inauguration in September 2007 she has not only donated a considerable sum that has enabled 15 schools to join the "Schools Without Violence" programme, she has raised awareness about child safety through her off-court activities, which included writing a newspaper column that benefited UNICEF during the Australian Open.

The nomination is the latest in a long line of honours bestowed upon the 20-year-old in recent weeks. Last month she scooped the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour's 2007 Karen Krantzcke Sponsmanship award and was simultaneously named the 2007 Most Improved Player.

Well done Ana. What fantasic things she has done :clap: :clap: :clap:

Fair play to her for doing some good work for charity and all but Women of Courage? :sicky: C'mon there are many more deserving nominees around, both activists and unsung heroes dsiplying real cpourage day in day out. Thsi kind fo schamltz winds me up. :rolleyes:

Sorry SB I disagree. I know you are not one of Ana's fans but she has gone out of her way to do good work, not just in helping out charities, but also in raising awareness off the court. She has put time and effort into it rather than it being a simple donation of money and then getting on with her life.

It should be applauded and highlighted when someone uses their position to help out others not as fortunate, and we must also realise she was not won this award yet, she is one of several nominees from my understanding.

looking at the state department website, she didn't win an award - but she was one of 95 nominees :ok:

http://www.state.gov/g/wi/

It's nothing to do with Ana. Loads of famous folks use their postion to do good. In fact it's a priviledge for them to be able to do so, lucky them. Wish I had that priviledge but tw*ts like moi just work foc for charity for at least 3 years of our lives and earn nowt - what mugs we are ;) :lol: No way am I worthy of such a thing but what I mean is that if I had that fame and cash then I might be able to help more folks instead of just taking the odd client on now and then cos most of them can't pay me and I onyl have so much time and expenses money, so I do it for love not money.

The real hereos are those who work relentlessly hard for years doing good WITHOUT credit or fame, often in dangerous situations. Or people who go through hell every day and survive and help others in the same boat. I am sure there are many hundreds of thousands if not' millions of women more deserving of this title than what will be on this shortlist. I d wish I could remeber the name fo that lady in th eMuslim world who was raped repeatedly, including by the police she told she ha dbene raped, and in front of her own kids, who was almost killed and now fights tirelessly for women's rights there - now that my dear is courage. :bow: Folks need to get some perspective.

I'll ignore your extremely patronising tone. We have all been through different things in life and have different perspectives. Don't presume I have no perspective on courage. I think you will find I have an extremely "interesting" perspective on courage.

I actually agree that there are more deserving women of "courage" out there, but I think the diea of this award is about making examples of women in different areas and different levels of society. I am guessing there are plenty of candidates who will be nominated who will be more deserving but again I am guessing she was one of the nominations from sport. And why not, if you are going to nominate a femal from that area, find someone worth making an example of due to her work.

I'd like to see the faces on those schoolkids if someone told them Ana was not a "real" hero. Not sure if "disgust" or "contempt" would best cover it. :)

Cheers for posting this Suzi :kiss2: and well done Ana not just for her generosity but because she has used her position to draw attention to these charities. :clap:

Hey if you are going to ignore something then don't mention it! :lol: Just kidding :D I wasn't tryign to be patronising, I was just trying to make a point. And I said 'folks' need to get some perspective, I didn't point the finger at you or I'd have said 'you'. I mean the world in general. I'm just conscious that these days charity and awareness raising work and all associated with it is no longer pure altruism (if it ever was) but a huge industry. It is , often led by motives that may not be all they seem and what they should be ethically - it isn't always customer focused and led, like many things these days. Quite often a repor tof charity work by a celebe hits the news and it's all "well done lovey" if you know what I mean. There is rarely any dialogue to examine things in any more depth, it's all self congratulatory self promotion for the most part. That worries me, and a lot of us cynical ex charity workers liek myself. That's all.

Woman of courage, what a gross media hyperbole statement :blink: :rolleyes:

No offence to Ana, but she's no woman of courage. These women who fight cancer, beat domestic violence, the mother of stephen Lawrence who is fighting street crime. That's courage. There's sport courage, eg Ana being a superb player from a war-ravaged country, but i dont see real courage.

As SB said though, it's not Ana's fault it's the media and society today that give stupid notions of peace, courage and freedom to anyone. Like Jordan getting mum of the yeat :rolleyes: :doh:

Good god :rolleyes:

:ok: :ok: :ok:

Yeah and that Condo-how-many Z's and e's shall I use to confuse you all Rice is full of bull as well :lol:

My mum just calls her Lisa rice, she's rubbish at pronouncinations roflmao

:D

George called her Condom-leeza Rice once :lol:

I call her "Condo" - her teeth are the size of a block of flats :rolleyes:

:lol: