Fri, Jan 18, 2008 page24

• Ivanovic romps into third round as Venus struggles

  AUSTRALIAN OPEN While Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova ground out hard-fought victories, Roger Federer neutralized the quirky skills of Fabrice Santoro

  • AFP
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  Serbian fourth seed Ana Ivanovic produced an electrifying display to reach the Australian Open third round yesterday as fellow contenders Venus Williams and Svetlana Kuznetsova battled through.

  Ivanovic showed no sign of the nerves that have crippled her at crucial points in her career, downing Italy's Tathiana Garbin 6-0, 6-3 and attributing her success to an adoring Melbourne Park crowd.

  "Even if I was a little bit nervous, the crowd helped me get over it so much, they were great tonight," she said. "I just played an awesome match, I really hope I can keep at this level and play as long as possible here."

  

  Serbian tennis player Ana Ivanovic plays a return during her women's singles match against Italy's Tathiana Garbin at the Australian Open tennis tournament in Melbourne, Australia, yesterday. Ivanovic won 6-0, 6-3.

  PHOTO: AFP

  The 20-year-old froze in the spotlight when she lost the French Open final to Justine Henin last year and said she panicked while trying kill off her opponent in her opening match here on Tuesday.

  But the world No. 4, who is being supported in Australia by her Melbourne-based relatives and members of the local expatriate Serb community, said she is working on controlling her jitters.

  "I learned something from that first match," she said. "Today I tried to focus more on my game, be a little bit less emotional, just committing more to my shots. I was really happy with the result. And I really hope I can keep this level for the next games."

  In contrast to Ivanovic's near-flawless performance, eighth seed Venus Williams and second seed Kuznetsova were content to grind out wins and save their best for the latter stages of the tournament.

  Williams struggled to shake off tenacious Frenchwoman Camille Pin 7-5, 6-4 in an mistake-strewn performance that included 44 unforced errors and six double faults.

  The Wimbledon champion was not concerned about being below her best so early in her campaign, confident she could call on the skills that have earned her six Grand Slams when she needed them.

  "Nothing worries me anymore," she said. "I feel like I know how to play, if I make a few mistakes, I'm not going to freak out. I'm fine, I feel good."

  Williams faces India's Sania Mirza in the third round and was looking forward to matching the Hyderabad-based right-hander's aggression.

  World No. 2 Kuznetsova was less relaxed than Williams about her sluggish display against Bulgarian Tsvetana Pironkova.

  The Russian started flat-footed and had to claw her way back from behind in both sets to win 7-5 (7/0), 6-2.

  "When I was down 5-2, 5-3, I felt I'm just not doing the [right] things. I think I just tried to put more balls in play and tried to make rallies long. She's not very consistent, so I wanted to play with her," she said.

  Men's top seed Roger Federer neutralized the quirky skills of "The Magician" in sweeping to his 16th consecutive win at the Australian Open in his quest for a 13th Grand Slam title.

  The sublime Swiss countered the wiles of veteran Frenchman Fabrice Santoro, playing in a record 62nd Grand Slam, to cruise into the third round 6-1, 6-2, 6-0 in one hour and 22 minutes.

  Santoro can confound his opponents with his sliced forehands and clever use of angles, but he was rendered helpless against the world No. 1.

  He even plaintively pointed to the scoreboard at match point as Federer attempted to serve it out.

  The victory sets Federer up with a third-round encounter with Serbian Janko Tipsarevic.

  Third seed Novak Djokovic outgunned Italian Simone Bolelli with another straight sets demolition job.

  It was another impressive effort from the 20-year-old Serb, who is seeded to face off against Federer in the semi-finals.

  Other players booking a place in the third round included 13th seed Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic and Spanish journeyman Juan Carlos Ferrero.
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