Ivanovic eases through

TENNIS:WIMBLEDON'S COURT 14 can accommodate 312 spectators. Yesterday morning the patrons who scampered to secure seats might have been dismayed to find a posse of photographers jostling for purchase and position, the phalanx of lenses trained squarely on Ana Ivanovic.

There’s no doubting how photogenic the Serbian former world number one is. Still, it was slightly bizarre to witness cameras focused exclusively on her every movement, oblivious to the presence of her opponent, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The 30-year-old Spaniard might as well have been invisible.

The Serbian is well used to the attention, attributable to her status in the sport and an on-off relationship with Australian golfer Adam Scott.

Ivanovic can play a bit too. She may no longer head the world rankings – she’s seeded 14th at the All England club – as she did in 2008 when she won the French Open having finished runner-up to Maria Sharapova in the Australian Open final earlier that year, but still presents a formidable opponent for her peers.

Three days past her 25th birthday her preparation for Wimbledon was hampered by an injured right hip, forcing her to withdraw from the Eastbourne tournament and that rustiness was evident in aspects of her game yesterday.

At 6ft 1in tall she can easily master the high, kicking topspin of clay and still drill her flattish forehand but on grass she must stoop to conquer.

It takes a little adjusting and it’s an ongoing process. Ironically many players try and flatten out their swing to create less spin on grass so that the ball shoots through lower rather than sit up. Ivanovic conceded afterwards that from a technical perspective she’s working on generating more spin on her forehand rather than her normal flatter trajectory.

There were periods in her 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Sanchez when the ball zipped off her racquet for outright winners, 31 in total.

But that statistic is balanced by the number of unforced errors, 27; a figure that if repeated is unlikely to suffice if she’s to progress further.

The left-handed Spaniard was a doughty competitor, who mixed up her game intelligently, especially when winning the second set. She chipped and charged to the net, mixing in some slice to her opponent’s backhand on approach and was fond of a drop-shot or 10. Her game-plan was to keep the ball low and deny Ivanovic a rhythm that can be honed from orthodox baseline exchanges.

Sanchez pedalled an unusual service action. She drew the racquet back to the apex of the backswing and then paused before tossing the ball in the air and completing the downward motion.

It took her opponent until midway through the third set before she started to zero-in regularly on return. The Spaniard moved slowly between points which required Ivanovic to remain patient, particularly in the final set.

At that stage the photographers had disappeared to fulfil other assignments. Naturally aggressive in her shot selection, a key component in the Serb’s victory was her willingness to take the net away from her opponent, winning 18 of 28 points over the course of the two-hour contest: she even served and volleyed at one point, successfully, a rare sight in any singles match at Wimbledon these days.

She was understandably pleased: “It’s never very easy playing first round, but also playing against such an opponent who mixes it up lot. She’s a lefty and very well suited to the grass-court game. I’m really happy and proud that I got through that third set, because it wasn’t easy till the end. It’s (grass court game) definitely getting better. I’m more used to sort of the direction the ball is coming from and I understand a little bit better which direction you have to go if the ball comes from certainly angles.

“I’m a little bit freer in my slice and volleys. I really hope I can integrate this into my game and do it more. I feel confident and in practice I do it a lot. I just hope I can put it in my matches a bit more. You have to stay a lot lower and shorten your swing a little; you do play a little flatter naturally on grass.

“I’ve actually been working on the opposite, (producing) a lot more spin and trying to get more work on the ball. But still you can do a little bit of that on grass if you stay low.”

There was enough evidence during the game to suggest that she’s headed in the right direction.

Her next opponent is a familiar foe, Kateryna Bondarenko, to whom she lost the Junior Wimbledon singles title in 2004. Ivanovic recalled: “I remember playing her on Court 18. It’s going to be a tough match, a lot different than today’s one.”

She’s on Court 3 today, and will, of course, remain the centre of attention.