NEW YORK – Ana Ivanovic needed every scrap of her youthful ebullience on Tuesday to narrowly avoid the humiliation of becoming the first top-seeded woman to lose in the opening round of the US Open.
It took the 20-year-old Serbian just over two hours to make her standing as world number one count against a valiant Vera Dushevina and she booked her place in round two with a 6-1 4-6 6-4 win. Playing as if she had taken a leaf out of Brad Gilbert’s tennis manual ‘Winning Ugly’ or perhaps still troubled by a right thumb injury which ruled her out of the Olympics, Ivanovic randomly misfired her shots to notch up 40 unforced errors.It led to a fan screaming out in desperation: “You’re number one for a reason.”She heeded the call to subdue the 57th-ranked Russian on her third match point.Her potential quarter-final opponent, sixth seed Dinara Safina, kept up her recent hot streak to beat grand slam debutante Kristie Ahn 6-3 6-4.Slovakian 11th seed Daniela Hantuchova, however, fell by the wayside when she was flattened 6-4 6-2 by qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld.Tommy Haas completed a good day for the Germans when he ousted men’s 12th seed Richard Gasquet 6-7 6-4 5-7 7-5 6-2.Safina made no allowances for Ahn, who at 16 is the youngest woman in the draw, and showed off her repertoire of ground strokes and thundering serves to get her campaign off to a flying start.The Russian is one of five players who could topple Ivanovic from the top spot by the end of the tournament should the Serbian trip up early.HOT-HEADED BROTHER French Open runner-up Safina, who has a 16-1 win-loss record since Wimbledon, was joined by her hot-headed brother Marat Safin in the last 64.Safin raged and ranted at umpire Carlos Bernades after he was controversially foot-faulted on a second serve late in the fourth set against Vince Spadea.With Bernades refusing to overturn the call – which gave Spadea set point – Safin turned the air blue, incurred a warning and slumped into his chair refusing to play on.The incident effectively cost the former world number one the set but he eventually put a lid on his emotions to carve out a 3-6 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-4 win.Fourth seed Serena Williams relied on her 20/20 vision as she began her title charge with a 6-1 6-4 thumping of Kateryna Bondarenko and her sister Venus protected the family reputation with a 6-2 6-3 win over Samantha Stosur.Four-times champion Roger Federer will round off an action-packed second day at Flushing Meadows.The Swiss master will be eager to prove he is still the player to beat despite being deposed as world number one by Rafael Nadal last week.He faces little-known Argentine Maximo Gonzalez.Nampa-ReutersPlaying as if she had taken a leaf out of Brad Gilbert’s tennis manual ‘Winning Ugly’ or perhaps still troubled by a right thumb injury which ruled her out of the Olympics, Ivanovic randomly misfired her shots to notch up 40 unforced errors.It led to a fan screaming out in desperation: “You’re number one for a reason.”She heeded the call to subdue the 57th-ranked Russian on her third match point.Her potential quarter-final opponent, sixth seed Dinara Safina, kept up her recent hot streak to beat grand slam debutante Kristie Ahn 6-3 6-4.Slovakian 11th seed Daniela Hantuchova, however, fell by the wayside when she was flattened 6-4 6-2 by qualifier Anna-Lena Groenefeld.Tommy Haas completed a good day for the Germans when he ousted men’s 12th seed Richard Gasquet 6-7 6-4 5-7 7-5 6-2.Safina made no allowances for Ahn, who at 16 is the youngest woman in the draw, and showed off her repertoire of ground strokes and thundering serves to get her campaign off to a flying start.The Russian is one of five players who could topple Ivanovic from the top spot by the end of the tournament should the Serbian trip up early.HOT-HEADED BROTHER French Open runner-up Safina, who has a 16-1 win-loss record since Wimbledon, was joined by her hot-headed brother Marat Safin in the last 64.Safin raged and ranted at umpire Carlos Bernades after he was controversially foot-faulted on a second serve late in the fourth set against Vince Spadea.With Bernades refusing to overturn the call – which gave Spadea set point – Safin turned the air blue, incurred a warning and slumped into his chair refusing to play on.The incident effectively cost the former world number one the set but he eventually put a lid on his emotions to carve out a 3-6 6-2 6-3 4-6 6-4 win.Fourth seed Serena Williams relied on her 20/20 vision as she began her title charge with a 6-1 6-4 thumping of Kateryna Bondarenko and her sister Venus protected the family reputation with a 6-2 6-3 win over Samantha Stosur.Four-times champion Roger Federer will round off an action-packed second day at Flushing Meadows.The Swiss master will be eager to prove he is still the player to beat despite being deposed as world number one by Rafael Nadal last week.He faces little-known Argentine Maximo Gonzalez.Nampa-Reuters
