ROME (AP) In a matchup of former French Open champions, 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic beat Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3 on Monday in a windy first-round match at the Italian Open.
''It was tough out there today, but it was the same for both of us,'' said Ivanovic, who won her only major title at Roland Garros in 2008. ''I just tried to move and to adjust and really tried to look at the ball and move forward. It was difficult at times and the gusts of wind would come out of nowhere, but it was a good match.''
Ivanovic is approaching the top 10 again after a difficult stretch in her career that included four first-round losses at Grand Slams. She attributes part of her turnaround to her coach, Nigel Sears, after they started to work together following Wimbledon last year.
''He is very calm and I am a perfectionist and sometimes I try to do too much at the same time, and so he is very reasonable when he comes on to the court ... so this helps me to calm down a lot,'' Ivanovic said.
Italy's Francesca Schiavone, another former French Open winner, was playing Ekaterina Makarova later.
This tournament is the last major clay-court warmup for Roland Garros, which starts in two weeks.
In men's action, 16th-ranked Fernando Verdasco eased into the second round when Alexandr Dolgopolov retired with a stomach ache.
Coming off a win over Rafael Nadal in Madrid last week, Verdasco won the first set 6-0. Dolgopolov then called for the trainer and clutched his stomach as he went over to shake Verdasco's hand and concede.
Also, 13th-seeded Gael Monfils beat Alex Bogomolov Jr. of Russia 6-4, 6-1, and Australian teenager Bernard Tomic rallied past Colombian qualifier Santiago Giraldo 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to set up a meeting with top-ranked Novak Djokovic on Tuesday night.
Others advancing included David Nalbandian of Argentina, Stanislas Wawrinka of Switzerland and Italian wild card Fabio Fognini.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire