Ana Ivanovic's Toronto Cup title defense came to an abrupt end
with a 6-3 6-1 second- round loss to qualifier Yan Zi of China on
Wednesday.
China's Yan Zi returns a
shot against Serbia's Ana Ivanovic during their match at the Rogers
Cup tennis tournament in Toronto, August 15, 2007.
The fourth-seeded Serb was joined at the exit door by Russian
fifth and eighth seeds Anna Chakvetadze and Elena Dementieva and
Czech No. 16 Lucie Safarova.
World number one Justine Henin will try to avoid joining the
exodus when she returns to action later on Wednesday for her first
match since her semi-final loss at Wimbledon.
Fresh from collecting her second title of the season in Los
Angeles on Sunday, Ivanovic was unable to carry the momentum to
Canada, the 169th-ranked Yan disposing of the world number four in
just 65 minutes to record the biggest victory of her career.
"She (Ivanovic) is a top player, I think today I was very
lucky," Yan told reporters. "Today I was very relaxed because she
is a top player and I didn't think I could win so I just go on to
the court to enjoy the match."
Yan, who has had to qualify for all seven WTA Tour events she
has played this season, took charge quickly by breaking Ivanovic at
the first opportunity to go up 2-0 in the opening set.
Ivanovic immediately broke back to level at 2-2 but Zi was
undeterred, winning eight of the next nine games to take the
opening set and a 4-0 lead in the second.
A doubles specialist, Yan's singles ranking has tumbled as she
has focused on preparing for the Beijing Olympics.
But with doubles partner Zheng Jie injured Yan has been able to
play more singles events and has slowly inched back up the
rankings.
In 2006, Yan and partner Zheng Jie earned China's first grand
slam titles with victories at the Australia Open and Wimbledon.
"Last year I was very concentrated on the doubles because of
Olympics where I think I will play doubles," said Yan.
"But this year I very lucky. So many tournaments I get in and I
have played well so my ranking is getting better."
The day began with Italy's Francesca Schiavone ending
Dementieva's title hopes with a gritty 6-7 6-3 6-2 comeback win,
while American Meghann Shaughnessy shook off her indifferent form
to surprise Safarova 3-6 6-4 7-5.
A trio of Frenchwomen made it through to the last 16, Wimbledon
finalist and seventh seed Marion Bartoli and Virginie Razzano
advancing when their opponents were forced to retire with
injuries.
Chakvetadze retired in the second set with a viral illness
trailing Razzano 7-6 2-0 and Bartoli advanced when Russia's Maria
Kirilenko succumbed to a knee injury.
Twelfth seed Tatiana Golovin joined her French compatriots in
the third round by easing past Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova 6-4
6-3.
Sixth-seeded Russian Nadia Petrova, runner-up to Ivanovic in Los
Angeles, overcame a sluggish start to beat Canadian Stephanie
Dubois 6-7 6-2 6-1.
(CRI via Reuters August 16, 2007)
