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05/11/2024 04:22:12 am

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Xu Yifan Bows Out To Ivanovic; Top Seeds Advance at Wimbledon

Ana Ivanovic

(Photo : Getty Images) Day One: The Championships - Wimbledon 2015

Chinese qualifier Xu Yifan exited Wimbledon with a 1-6, 1-6 loss to former no. 1 Ana Ivanovic. In just 61 minutes, the Serb eased past the 26-year-old who managed to break her only once during the match. The world no. 176 put on a good service game, hitting 78% of her first serves in, but it wasn't enough for Ivanovic who dominated the match with 29 winners and 6 aces.

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The former French Open champion hardly showed signs of the form that led her to a first round defeat in Birmingham. She breezed through the first set in just 25 minutes, relentlessly attacking Xu from the baseline. There were a few questionable line calls in the second set but the 7th seed raised her game and continued to hit colossal forehands to clinch her 400th WTA victory.

"I really feel that the early loss in Birmingham gave me time to work on some things," Ivanovic told WTA. "Before Birmingham I hadn't had much time on grass but now coming into this week I feel like I'm beginning to implement some of those things we worked on, and that makes me happy."

Next up for Ivanovic is the colorfully clad American Bethanie Mattek-Sands who toppled Belgian Alison Van Uytvanck in straight sets.

"It's going to be very different match. Obviously I'm going to try and prepare the best I think with my coach tomorrow, and it's going to be tough," Ivanovic added. "I've known her for a long, long time. She loves to play on grass I think, loves to go for her shots. Sometimes she can chip and charge. Sometimes she stays back. So you really have to be focused and sharp from the first moment on."

Meanwhile, world no. 1 Serena Williams had an easy first round match defeating Margarita Gasparyan of Russia. After a slow start and being down 1-3, the American charged back winning 11 of 13 games to cap off the match with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

"It feels good so far. Just one match but it feels good just to be back here at Wimbledon," said Serena as reported by the Centre Daily Times. "I've done so well here in the past so I'll always have so many good memories here."

Other top seeds that advanced to the second round include Lucie Safarova, Karolina Pliskova and former champion Maria Sharapova.

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