Ivanovic battles into 2nd round, ace record falls

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(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-25 13:45

PARIS: Defending champion Ana Ivanovic sweated to reach the French Open second round yesterday with a gruelling 7-6 (7/3), 6-3 win over Italy's Sara Errani as Roland Garros temperatures hit a sweltering 30 degrees.

Ivanovic battles into 2nd round, ace record falls

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia reacts after winning her her match against Sara Errani of Italy during the French Open tennis tournament at Roland Garros in Paris, May 24, 2009. [Agencies]

The 21-year-old, eighth-seeded Serbian will play either Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn or Camille Pin of France for a place in the third round.

The cheerful Ivanovic, who skipped the Madrid Open because of a knee injury, had the problem area taped when she walked onto a sun-drenched Philippe Chatrier Court, but it didn't hinder her in the early exchanges as she edged to a 3-1 advantage.

The 44th-ranked Italian then stormed back to lead 5-4, but once she had squandered an opportunity to serve for the first set in the 10th game, her fight steadily melted away.

Ivanovic eased through the tiebreak and then dominated the second set, stretching out a 5-1 lead on the back of two breaks.

She suffered a slight blip when Errani clawed one break back in the eighth game, but the champion eventually clinched victory with a swooping forehand in the ninth game after over two hours on court.

"I knew I had to work hard for every point, but I kept my composure even when I was making mistakes," said Ivanovic, who racked up 50 winners in the match.

"My knee wasn't a problem. I feel fine. I had some good practice sessions last week after taking the Madrid tournament off. It only takes a few days to get back into shape."

China's Li Na, the 25th seed, earlier had the honour of becoming the first player to reach the second round thanks to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Poland's Marta Domachowska.

The 26-year-old Li, who missed the 2008 tournament because of injury, needed just 72 minutes to make the last 64 where she will face Switzerland's Timea Bacsinszky.

Li was quickly joined in the next round by promising Russian 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, the 27th seed, who eased past Romania's Ioana Raluca Olaru 6-3, 6-2.

In men's action, Croatia's Ivo Karlovic set a new world record of 55 aces in a match, but still slumped to a five-set defeat to Lleyton Hewitt.

The 2.08m giant beat the previous best of 51 aces set by Joachim Johansson in the first round of Wimbledon in 2005, a match the Swede lost.

Hewitt came back from a two-set deficit to beat Karlovic winning 6-7 (1/7), 6-7 (4/7), 7-6 (7/4), 6-4, 6-3.

Russian Marat Safin eased into the second round with a 6-4 6-4 6-4 win over French wildcard Alexandre Sidorenko.

Former world No 1 Safin, playing at Roland Garros for the last time before retiring at the end of the year, will next face either France's Josselin Ouanna or Marcel Granollers of Spain.

AFP