London, June 27: Ana Ivanovic raced into the fourth round at Wimbledon with a straight sets defeat of Australia’s in-form Samantha Stosur today.
The Serbian former world number one beat the 18th seed 7-5, 6-2 in an hour and 10 minutes on the new 4,000-capacity Court 2.
The 13th seed now faces defending champion Venus Williams, the third seed, for a place in the quarter-finals.
“I played really well and I’m very happy that my tactics and my game plan prevailed over my emotions,” said Ivanovic who been match points down in her first round clash against Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic.
“Grass is such a specific surface, and you really have to understand it to do well. And this is the first year that I feel I’m starting to use grass to my advantage.
She played with her right knee taped up but said it was not troubling her.
“Still after my matches I have to keep icing it and do some work on it. But it’s feeling 100 per cent stable. I can practice as normal and play my matches.”
Stosur, the reigning Wimbledon mixed doubles champion, felt she had chances to win the match.
“I didn’t play horrible, I thought she played pretty well but at the critical times when I needed to play better I didn’t do that,” the Australian number one told.
—IANS