Ivanovic prevails in opener; Roddick advances

After struggling in her first match at the Australian Open since losing last year’s final, Ana Ivanovic finished with a flourish in a 7-5, 6-3 win over Julia Goerges today.

Fifth-seeded Ivanovic was broken once in each set but fended off five other break points before finishing with consecutive aces against Goerges, a German ranked No. 107 and playing only her fourth major tournament.

Ivanovic lost the 2008 Australian final to Maria Sharapova, who is not defending her title because of an injury, and then won the French Open to move into the No. 1 ranking midway through the year.

But the 21-year-old Serb was bothered by injuries in the middle of the season and her form at the majors waned; she went out in the third round at Wimbledon and the second round at the U.S. Open.

She and Goerges finished with a combined 66 unforced errors and only 34 winners, and were called for several foot faults. Ivanovic was pleased to have escaped with a victory.

“I took some time to adjust to the rhythm and everything, to slowly get into the match,” Ivanovic said. “I’ve never played against her before . . . never seen her play. She was hitting the ball very well.”

Top-ranked Jelena Jankovic, who lost the U.S. Open final to Serena Williams and has yet to win a major title, had a more straightforward win than her fellow Serb. Jankovic had 27 winners against Yvonne Meusburger’s four in a 6-1, 6-3 win.

“Today it was so hot, my feet were really burning,” said Jankovic, recovering from an illness that ruled her out of a Hong Kong tournament last week. “I knew I had to deal with it.”

Seventh-seeded Andy Roddick also was impressive in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 win over 31-year-old Swedish qualifier Bjorn Rehnquist in the first match at Rod Laver Arena.

The 2003 U.S. Open champion lost only nine points in the first set, securing it in 28 minutes after setting up triple set point with consecutive aces.

Defending champion Novak Djokovic, seeded third, won his first-round match, beating Andrea Stoppini of Italy, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

The Czech Republic’s Tomas Berdych, seeded 20th, beat American Robby Ginepri, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Americans Robert Kendrick and Bobby Reynolds also were ousted in the first round.