The former finalist here (2008) played in the Hopman Cup for Serbia rather than battle for points in WTA events as preparation for Melbourne and her performances there were impressive save for the final where she was upset by Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues. I don't know what it was that Anabel said to upset Ana but it clearly affected her tennis and she lost unexpectedly.
Hungary's Melinda Czink completed the line-up for the second match tonight and as well as being ranked 97 in the world Melinda can lay claim to having beaten Ana when they last played.
Well before this tussle she could.The first set standard was relatively low to begin with and Ana's refusal to put enough first serves into play contributed to this. The far from ideal start proved affordable due to Melinda's inability to capitalise on her opponent's errors. The seemingly inevitable occurred and Ana broke the Hungarian in the second game to signal we thought a quick Set 1 and accordingly match.
However some nice shots by Melinda combined with a careless service game by Ana brought the games back to 1-2 and on serve.
Charity stopped here and the 13th seed increased the quality of her output to a level too high for Melinda to scale. 3-1 became 4-1 and despite a Hungarian charge to win a second game, the silky skills of Ivanovic overpowered and 6-2 became the scoreline for posterity.
The second set saw Ana Ivanovic at her best. The service percentage was healthy, the winners flowed off both wings and many players would have been helpless in their resistance; any player would have found things difficult.
The play of the night came early in what would be the final set, with Ana reaching for a backhand down the line and falling in the process. Lying in a crumpled heap on the ground, she managed to raise her head in time to see her shot land in court untouched by another racquet.
Melinda's night ended mercifully at 6-2 6-1 and that leaves Ana to play Yung-Jan Chan in the second round after she upset Daniela Hantuchova.
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