Ana Ivanovic, who crumbled to defeat in last year’s Roland Garros final, took a first nervous step towards erasing that heartbreaking memory yesterday when she reached the French Open second round.
The second seed saw off Sweden’s Sofia Arvidsson 6-2, 7-5 and will now face the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova for a place in the third round.
Howver, another Czech was already packing her bags after 15th seed Nicole Vaidisova, a semi-finalist in 2006, slumped to a straight sets defeat to compatriot, and best friend, Iveta Benesova.
PHOTO: EPA
World No. 2 Ivanovic became Serbia’s first Grand Slam finalist in Paris last year beating Svetlana Kuznetsova and Maria Sharapova before she fell to pieces in the final against Justine Henin, going down 6-1, 6-2.
Since then she has also finished runner-up to Sharapova at the Australian Open.
But it wasn’t 20-year-old Ivanovic’s most convincing display yesterday.
PHOTO: AFP
After easing through the first set, she then had to save break points in the fifth, seventh and ninth games of the second before seeing off the 24-year-old Swede whom she had also defeated at the same stage here last year.
“If I reach the final again I’ll perform a lot better than I did last year. That was a great experience and I don’t regret it,” said Ivanovic whose build-up to Paris wasn’t helped by a shock first round defeat in Rome where she was top seed.
“This year I’m in a different position to last year. Then I had only just broken into the world top 10 and there was less pressure. Now I am No. 2 in the world so I have more expectations,” she said.
“I think I’m doing a good job. It’s been a little tough the last few weeks but I feel as if I have my game back,” Ivanovic said.
Vaidisova’s 7-6 (7/2), 6-1 defeat was her sixth in a row this year leaving her without a win since the first round in Dubai three months ago.
The 19-year-old has recently drafted in Tim Henman’s former coach David Felgate to replace Alex Kodat, her stepfather who had been beside her since she was six years old.
Vaidisova has also been romantically linked with fellow Czech Radek Stepanek, who this time last year was engaged to Martina Hingis.
But she refused to blame all the upheavals for her slump.
“I’m happy with the decisions I took. They are not distracting me,” the former world No. 7 said.
Also yesterday, Anastasiya Yakimova of Belarus beat Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei 6-7 (4/7), 7-5, 6-4.
Meanwhile, Argentinian sixth seed David Nalbandian, widely regarded as one of the few players capable of shattering triple champion Rafael Nadal’s pursuit of a fourth successive title, saw off compatriot Carlos Berlocq 6-2, 6-4, 6-1.
Nalbandian, a semi-finalist in 2004 and 2006, holds a 2-0 career record over Nadal and could meet the Spaniard in the quarter-finals.
He will face French wildcard Jeremy Chardy for a place in the third round.
“I can play better but to win in three sets is good enough,” Nalbandian said.
In another match yesterday, Juan Martin del Potro beat Josselin Ouanna of France 6-3, 6-2, 6-3.
Shohei Ohtani and his wife arrived in South Korea with his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates yesterday ahead of their season-opening games with the San Diego Padres next week. Ohtani, wearing a black training suit and a cap backwards, was the first Dodgers player who showed up at the arrival gate of Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul. His wife, Mamiko Tanaka, walked several steps behind him. As a crowd of fans, many wearing Dodgers jerseys, shouted his name and cheered slogans, Ohtani briefly waved his hand, but did not say anything before he entered a limousine bus with his wife. Fans held placards
Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying yesterday advanced to the quarter-finals at the All England Open, beating Kim Ga-eun of South Korea 21-17, 21-15. With the win, Tai earned a semi-final against China’s He Bingjiao, who beat Michelle Li of Canada 21-9, 21-9. Defending champion An Se-young defeated India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-19, 21-11. An on Wednesday cruised into the second round, unlike last year’s men’s winner, Li Shifeng, who suffered a shock defeat. South Korea’s An, the world No. 1, overcame Taiwan’s Hsu Wen-chi 21-17, 21-16 to set up the match against Sindhu. In other women’s singles matches, Taiwan’s Sung Shuo-yun lost 21-18, 24-22 against Carolina Marin of
EYEING TOP SPOT: A victory in today’s final against Storm Hunter and Katerina Siniakova would return 38-year-old Hsieh Su-wei to the world No. 1 ranking Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Mertens on Thursday secured a spot in the women’s doubles finals at the BNP Paribas Open after dispatching Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez 6-2, 7-6 (7/5) at Indian Wells. Hsieh and her Belgian partner Mertens, who won the Australian Open in late January, coasted through the first set after breaking their opponents’ serve twice, but found the going tougher in the second. Both pairs could only muster one break point over 12 games, neither of which were converted, leaving the set to be decided by a tiebreaker. Hsieh and Mertens took a 6-3 lead,
DOUBLES PAYBACK: Hsieh Su-wei and Elise Martens avenged their defeat in the quarters at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open against Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei on Wednesday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, California. Hsieh and partner Elise Mertens of Belgium dispatched Demi Schuurs and Luisa Stefani 6-1, 6-4 to set up a clash against Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the US and Australia’s Ellen Perez for a spot in the final of the WTA 1000 tournament. Hsieh and Martens made a blistering start to their rematch after they lost to Schuurs and Stefani in the quarter-finals at the Qatar TotalEnergies Open last month, winning three games without reply at the start of the first set