Ana Ivanovic topples Sofia Arvidsson in the second round – US Open 2012
Former world number one, Ana Ivanovic proved her class by defeating the Swedish, Sofia Arvidsson, in the second round of the Flushing Meadows in New York, United States. The Serbian bettered her rival in straight set, 6-2,
6-2, on Thursday.
Ivanovic told the media "I'm very happy about today's match because Sofia's a tough opponent. She retrieves a lot of balls and likes to use pace from her opponent. I really tried to use the whole court and open up the court,
and go behind her. I looked for my forehand and tried to be more aggressive on that side. I want to get back to the top and get back in contention to win Grand Slams again. It's been a long process of getting my mind there and my body and game and everything
together. It's still going to be a lot of work. I'm really motivated."
The 12th seeded made the initial strike in the opening set and nailing a break point right away by clinching the opening game in the encounter. She successfully established her 2-1 lead in the set
later. However, the scores quickly squared down to 2-2 by the fourth game. The Arvidsson laboured hard for creating a chance to upset Ivanovic but she was unable to counter her rival’s serves. The Serbian then smashed successive blows in the following games
to capitalizing on her 6-2 triumph by the end of the set.
The Swedish underdog had a good first serve percentage of 73 and she managed to convert only six of 16 points on it. On the other hand, she could not bag a single break point of the six chances she was provided with. Ivanovic
had an average first serve of 63 percent but she won two of five break points to get the upper hand in the match.
In the following set, the 24-year-old Serbian proceeded with a very direct game plan as before. She managed to break her rival’s serve four times and confidently earned a commanding lead by making the most of opportunities.
Eventually, she rested the score line to her 6-2, coming out as the deserving winner.
Ranked 51 in the WTP Premier Rankings, the Swede had relatively better first serve percentage of 67 in the second set. Nevertheless, she could only attain five of 16 points, which gave the Serbian number one a chance to overpower
her. The right-hander Serbian had an average first serve percentage of 55, snatching four of the five break points.
The Serbian tennis ace will be competing against the American Sloane Stephens in the third rounds. She qualified after crushing Tatjana Malek by 5-7, 6-4, 6-2.
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