It is a long shot for 2008, but by the time next year rolls around, if the present unpredictable form lines are sustained, Ana Ivanovic and Novak Djokovic could plant the Serbian flag at the twin peaks of tennis. Established nations who have fallen on parlous times simply watch developments and wonder.

Britain has tried to do its bit by the pair - there was a time when the red carpet was rolled out for the Djokovic family, tea was taken with presidential folk and the authorities wondered whether, with the secession of Montenegro from Serbia, a change of nationality might do the trick. The Djokovics declined.

Similarly, the gates of the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton are thrown open for Ivanovic to practise when she is passing through London - the closest we are likely to come to rubbing shoulders with someone of her elevated status for a while.

Here, in the fresh breezes of south Florida, the 20-year-old was dressed head to toe in orange, which happens to be her favourite tipple. This event is tennis's equivalent of Tropicana - a brand that may attach itself more tightly to the British game in the next few weeks if negotiations bear fruit. Ivanovic is at home here, addressing her form with verve and freedom.

Ivanovic has reached two grand-slam tournament finals and did not take her A game to either, but she won the Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells, California, in bravura style last weekend and is bearing down on the world No1 spot. Djokovic is 425 points short of overhauling Rafael Nadal for the No2 ranking in the men's game but is defending his crown at the Sony Ericsson Open and needs to match that to stay where he is. Equally, Nadal won all but one match last year on red clay and Roger Federer, the world No1, has a mighty stack of points to defend through the middle part of the year. Djokovic is ready to pounce.

The upshot of this remarkable story is that Serbia has so many youngsters who want to be Ivanovic and Djokovic that there are not enough coaches in the country to satisfy them. “It is a fashion statement to walk around with a tennis racket in Serbia now,” Ivanovic said. “The people follow our results all the time, they wake up in the middle of the night to watch us. They appreciate what we are doing for our country.

“When I started playing tennis, it was the other way around; a lot of coaches and no kids. Now we have so many talented sporting children who want to play tennis, who can play it well, but they need to be taught properly.”

Ivanovic can do her bit simply by maintaining her recent progress. She accepts that in the French Open final of last June and in Melbourne two months ago she fell short. “But in each match and in each tournament I am learning something different about myself,” she said. “These are big steps for me, but I take something from every victory, every loss. To me, the most important thing is enjoying what I do and I bring that to the court, both in practice and matches.”

Helping her along the way is Sven Groeneveld, Greg Rusedski's former coach. “He has even taught me about using new rackets more often, about the frequency of restringing them,” she said. “I feel better and more confident when I have newer, better rackets. I didn't know about that before.”

Unfortunately for the rest, she is learning something new every day.

The BBC has agreed a new five-year deal to broadcast Wimbledon, which means that the championships will remain on terrestrial television until at least 2014.