Nervy Ivanovic steadies to reach Open third round
Serbian fifth seed Ana Ivanovic displayed glimpses of her best form
after a nervous start Wednesday to beat Alberta Brianti of Italy 6-3,
6-2 in the Australian Open second round.
The glamorous 21-year-old, a losing finalist here last year, is
looking to play herself back into form after a disappointing run in the
second half of 2008 saw her lose the world number one ranking.
First round
She produced a far more convincing display against Brianti than her
first round encounter with Germany's Julia Goerges, when she complained
her game was not flowing as it should.
"I really enjoyed competing today," Ivanvic said after dispatching
Brianti.
Ivanovic came out firing, holding Brianti to love with her powerful
serve in the opening game.
But the Italian world number 169 was not intimidated against the
reigning French Open champion, playing her shots and making Ivanovic
graft to go up a break in the fourth game.
It was the Serb whose nerves looked frayed as she made two double
faults to put Brianti back on level terms, settling herself to regain
the advantage at take the opening set to 5-2.
Eighth game
The eighth game turned into an epic that went to deuce eight times,
Ivanovic struggling to find her radar and she hit returns long, the
world number five smiling wryly to herself when an overhead smash
attempt went well wide.
Mistakes cost Ivanovic two set points, the first when she shanked a
forehand return, the second an attempted drop shot that sailed into the
net.
Ivanovic then served out the first set after 49 minutes, pumping her
fist in celebration as she gained confidence against the gritty Italian.
She looked a different player in the second set, breaking Brianti in
the opening game then emphatically defending her own serve with an ace
to go up 2-0.
Ground strokes
With her ground strokes finally finding their mark, Ivanovic scored
another break before Brianti called a medical time out due to back pain.
The Italian managed to claim two more games but Ivanovic looked in
control as she served out the match on 92 minutes.
MELBOURNE, Wednesday, AFP
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