Ivanovic hoping for triumphant return

Ana Ivanovic is hoping to use the momentum she gained by reaching the quarter-finals of the China Open to recapture the Generali Ladies title she won in 2008.

Last week in Beijing she upset Elena Dementieva before stretching new world number one Caroline Wozniacki, and those performances strongly suggested that she is well on the way to recapturing the form she showed in winning the French Open and reaching number one in the rankings two years ago.

“Im really happy I got the call and the opportunity to play here because this is the last title I won. I was very excited to come back here,” said Ivanovic, who was called up on Sunday to replace the injured Serena Williams.

“In Beijing I really felt I was playing well and I thought why waste a good game. It is a bit rushed and changing to indoors from outdoors and also the time difference, but I feel I'm in good shape and I just want to keep on playing.”

Although her ranking sank to the mid-sixties earlier this year, the 22-year old Serb has also enjoyed considerable success this season by reaching the semi-finals in Brisbane, Rome and Cincinnati. At least part of the credit goes to her coach, Heinz Gunthardt, who worked with Steffi Graf until her retirement.

“I feel my game is getting close to where it used to be and I'm even more aggressive, and experience-wise I'm much more mature and a more complete player now,” said Ivanovic. “In Beijing I had a few really good matches against tough opponents and I got that mental strength back and was pulling through tough matches.

“Having more wins under your belt helps build your confidence, but its a long process. At one point I was not really aware of that. I wanted to have results and get back to the top straight away but sometimes it takes longer than you anticipate. It was a big thing for me to realise it takes time and you have to be patient.

“There will be some up and downs until to get to that level where you feel comfortable playing against top players all the time, but I feel very confident about my game and my fitness.”

Two seeds failed to survive the first round on Tuesday as number three Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine fell 6-2 6-2 to Italys Roberta Vinci, and fourth seeded Slovak Dominika Cibulkova slumped 6-2 6-4 against Greek qualifier Eleni Daniilidou.