Ivanovic, Jankovic, Roddick advance
MELBOURNE, Australia – After struggling in her first match at the Australian Open since losing last year’s final, Ana Ivanovic finished with a flourish in a 7-5, 6-3 win over Julia Goerges today.
Fifth-seeded Ivanovic was broken once in each set but fended off five other break points before finishing with consecutive aces against Goerges, a German ranked No. 107 and playing only her fourth major.
Ivanovic lost the 2008 Australian final to Maria Sharapova, who is not defending her title because of an injury, and then won the French Open to move into the No. 1 ranking midway through the year.
But the 21-year-old Serb was bothered by injuries in the middle of the season and her form at the majors waned, going out in the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at the U.S. Open.
She and Goerges finished with a combined 66 unforced errors to just 34 winners and were called for several foot faults. Ivanovic was pleased to have escaped.
“I took some time to adjust to the rhythm and everything, to slowly get into match,” Ivanovic said. “I’ve never played against her before … never seen her play. She was hitting the ball very well.”
Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic, who lost the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams and is yet to win a major title, had a more straight forward win than her fellow Serbian. Jankovic ripped 27 winners against Yvonne Meusburger’s four in a 6-1, 6-3 win.
Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick was also thorough in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over 31-year-old Swedish qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist in the first match at Rod Laver Arena.
The 2003 U.S. Open champion lost only nine points in the first set, sealing it in 28 minutes after setting up triple set point with consecutive aces.
Roddick, a semifinalist in Australia every alternate year since 2003, had 17 winners, nine aces and kept his unforced errors down to 10.
He came into the tournament as runner-up to fourth-ranked Andy Murray at the Qatar Open in Doha and hasn’t given up hope of winning a second major, despite the domination of Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.
“I’m 26, so I’m not quite over the hill,” he said. Another Grand Slam title “is what I’m shooting for.”
Federer, bidding to equal Pete Sampras’ record 14 major titles, had a night match later today against Andreas Seppi of Italy.
Third-ranked Novak Djokovic, the defending champion, will play Andrea Stoppini in the third match on center court.
Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych, seeded 20th, beat American Robby Ginepri 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Veteran Dominik Hrbaty, who guided Slovakia to a surprise title at the Hopman Cup international mixed team event in Perth earlier this month, beat John Isner in four sets. Americans Robert Kendrick and Bobby Reynolds also were ousted in the first round.
Women’s No. 7 Vera Zvonareva of Russia posted a 7-6 (2), 6-0 win over Slovakia’s Magdalena Rybarikova and No. 15 Alize Cornet of France beat Ukraine’s Mariya Koryttseva 6-3, 6-4.