Story highlights
Serbian Ana Ivanovic beats Carla Suarez Navarro at Qatar Open
World No. 19 into second round after Spanish opponent retires hurt
10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenko beaten by Kazakhstan's Ksenia Pervak
Svetlana Kuznetsova beats Spain's Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez 7-5 6-3
Serbia’s Ana Ivanovic made it into the second round of the Qatar Open after Spanish opponent Carla Suarez Navarro retired injured.
The world No. 19 was leading 6-1 4-1 when Suarez Navarro retired due to a back injury and will face either Petra Martic, from Croatia, or the Czech Republic’s Petra Cetkovska in round three.
Ivanovic, French Open champion in 2008, was pleased with her form and told reporters she still harbors hopes of reaching No. 1 in the world.
“Well, that’s why I’m here,” she said. “If I didn’t think so, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here. But, yeah, I definitely believe so.”
Kerber emulates Graf with Paris Open triumph
But Ivanovic admitted the competition on the WTA Tour is fierce in 2012. She added: “A lot more girls can challenge top players from the early rounds.
“That’s exciting for us, because we do want challenges. But I feel like those girls that are on top at the moment, they’re playing very aggressively, and that’s the way you have to play in order to win.”
Russia’s Svetlana Kuznetsova, seeded 14, made it safely through to round three after a 7-5 6-3 victory over Spaniard Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez.
But Kuznetsova’s compatriot, 10th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenko, was knocked out of the tournament by Kazakhstan’s Ksenia Pervak.
Elsewhere, Israel’s Shahar Peer overcame Nadia Lalami of Morocco while China’s Shuai Peng dismissed Fatma al-Nabhani of Oman.
