Ana Ivanovic wins opener at Indian Wells
Former No. 1-ranked player Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, 15th seeded this year at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, won her first match Saturday.
She defeated Johanna Larsson of Sweden, 6-1, 6-2. Ivanovic played a close-to-the-vest match, with only four unforced errors, and won with a 104 mph ace.
She had Larsson on the ropes throughout, and ended up converting five of 17 break points.
Ivanovic won the French Open in 2008 at age 20 and spent three months at No. 1 shortly after that. She has struggled since to get her game in top form and finished at No. 22 in the world last year.
Her best recent finish since her 2008 title at Roland Garros was advancing to the fourth round at last year’sU.S. Open.
ALSO:
Victoria Azarenka survives a scare
Rafael Nadal keeps working to get better
Roger Federer faces a tough road in the desert
More to Read
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.