Ana Ivanovic makes winning start at China Open
World No. 36 Ana Ivanovic has won her first-round match at the China Open, defeating Marion Bartoli in straight sets.
Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, took the first set off the double-handed Bartoli in their first-round match, but the 11th seed secured the early break in the second to test the Serb’s often fragile self-belief.
Today though, Ivanovic was equal to the task, breaking Bartoli twice in the set and sealing the 6-2, 6-3 victory in one hour and seven minutes with a forehand winner down the line to reverse the result from their previous match in the second round in Stanford over the summer.
Bartoli wasn’t the only seed to lose on Monday, with sixth seed Agnieszka Radwanska also making a first-round exit as Germany’s Angelique Kerber fought her way to a 5-7, 7-6(3), 7-5 win in two hours and 56 minutes. The Pole’s loss means that as the second round gets underway neither of last year’s finalists are now in contention for this year’s title – with defending champion Svetlana Kuznetsova losing to qualifier Roberta Vinci in her first-round match on Sunday.
Second seed Vera Zvonareva, who was handed what on paper at least loomed as perhaps the toughest first-round match, against Dinara Safina, won through in a tight contest.
This time last year, Safina was locked in a dual with Serena Williams for the season-ending No. 1 ranking (Serena won it) but 12 months on the same player is fighting for form after returning from a chronic back injury earlier this year.
Today, Safina drew on every ounce of her fighting spirit as she pushed the Wimbledon and US Open runner-up all the way in a second-set tiebreak, but it was not to be as Zvonareva booked her place in the second round with a 6-4, 7-6(6) win.
Nadia Petrova became the first player in the women’s draw to reach the third round, defeating Alona Bondarenko 6-3, 7-5 in the second round today.
While Ivanovic showed some strong form in her win, fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic’s ordinary run of results continues. The third seed was defeated in her first round match against another of her countrywomen, Bojana Jovanovski.
The world No. 93 lost the first set to Jankovic before coming back to claim the match 4-6, 6-2, 6-2 in just over two hours.
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