Ana Ivanovic had all the right moves in her second round match at the French Open. The former world number one put the lock down against Japan’s Kurumi Nara winning 7-5, 6-1 on Court One at Roland Garros Thursday afternoon
The Serb had a game victory against Nara two years ago and would try to do it again. With her three set run against France’s Oceane Dodin, having someone who isn’t the home favorite would come slightly easier for the two-time champ at RG. Nara hasn’t played a single game in the tournament as she earned a free pass with Denisa Allertova retiring before the match. In what will be her start to the year’s second major getting something done against Ivanovic would have to come off her racket quickly.
The Serb was aggressive out of the gate winning on serve before quickly breaking the 24-year-old for a 2-0 lead. Nara attempted to make a difference in Game Three but ultimately lost to the accuracy Ivanovic brought to court. The Japanese star fought with all her effort to hold serve in the fourth and accomplished her mission of countering Ivanovic on deuce to win. The victory to Nara was kept brief by the former number one as she returned to serve in the fifth increasing her lead by three games.
Nara’s success to hold serve put her down a pair to Ivanovic but with the Serb just two games away, a break was necessary to stay within reach. It was exactly the moment for the Japanese star as she played tough in the seventh to get within reach of a tie with Ivanovic. The longest game of the match ended with Nara leveled with Ivanovic as the battle on deuce came to a close after three breaks.
The Serb found herself in trouble hoping to not give up another game while in control of the ball. Though she clearly had a fight on her hands, Ivanovic held her end together producing a much needed victory to play for a chance to end the set in her favor. She created a chance on the break but Nara’s counter forced her to play on deuce. After two breaks, it was Nara coming out on top killing Ivanovic’s chance for escape only to play the set to its distance.
The Serb got the 6-5 lead she most wanted but clinching the set wouldn’t come easy for her. Game 12 was a huge break victory for the 14th seed as she dominated on the returns to secure a set win after playing nearly an hour of tennis. Her first serve carried well in the set winning 71 percent of points including 26 winners. The struggle to win break points and her 21 unforced errors had to be minimized to prevent Nara from pushing the match beyond straight sets.
Ivanovic took the first game in the second set but quickly found herself in a fight for control. Nara forced deuce on service but only lasted two breaks as the Serb got the win taking the 2-0 hold. She added another before Nara completed a perfect love service that notched her first win of the set. It was the last she got as Ivanovic broke her in the fourth before taking a 5-1 lead to serve for the match. She made it look easy as a triple match point ended a seven shot rally with the Serb firing the ball into an open corner away from the Japanese player. It took 1 hour and 24 minutes for her to make it to the third round for a fifth year. She await Saturday’s match where she could face Elina Svitolina for a second straight year or take on American Taylor Townsend.
