Former title winner Ana Ivanovic overcame a mid-match slump before advancing to the third round of the LA Championships with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-1 victory against American wildcard Vania King.
The sixth seeded Serb was joined in the last 16 by second ranked Vera Zvonareva, who was pushed all the way in the night match before edging out China's Shuai Peng 3-6 6-3 7-6 in two hours, 19 minutes.
Seeking her first title since Oct. 2008, Ivanovic struggled with King's relentless counterpunching in the first two sets but in the final set, last year's French Open champion was able to overpower her plucky opponent.
"I felt happy with the way I was moving and playing," said Ivanovic, on court for the first time since a thigh injury forced her to retire from a Wimbledon fourth round match against Venus Williams in late June.
"It's just the first match and I have the ability to improve. I had an opportunity a few times to put the ball away but had a little doubt in my mind as to which shot to take."
King, who grew up in nearby Long Beach, was frustrated with her inability to trust her shots in the latter stages of her tussle with the 2007 champion.
"I was nervous," King said. "It's something I've struggled with, getting a mental block because they're in the top 10, but I think I'm doing a much better job of staying mentally tough."
There were no upsets in the day's first round matches, as 12th seed Li Na of China advanced when Japan's Ayumi Morita retired while trailing 6-0 2-0 and 13th seed Samantha Stosur of Australia eased past Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-1 6-2.
Chinese 14th seed Zheng Jie defeated Olga Savchuk of the Ukraine 7-5 1-6 6-2 and 17th seed Sabine Lisicki of Germany battled past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm 7-6 2-6 7-5.
World number one Dinara Safina will kick off her title defence against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova in the second round on Wednesday, while three-times grand slam champion Maria Sharapova will play third seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus.
No comments:
Post a Comment