Ana Ivanovic beats Angelique Kerber in Dubai Open's opening round
Ana Ivanovic lost the first set but managed to hold on to her nerves and came back hard to win the next two sets to claim the match.
Ana Ivanovic, world no.12, from Serbia Tuesday beat Germany's Angelique Kerber 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the first round of the WTA Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships here.
After losing the first set, Ivanovic found back her pace and quickly decided the second set for herself, reported Xinhua.
In the tie-break of the third and last set, Kerber appeared more exhausted, and failed to find an efficient defence against Ivanovic's powerful forehand, who at 1.84 metres height is 11 centimetres taller than Kerber.
Ivanovic kept her nerves tight and won the tie-break in a head-to-head battle by 8-6, which triggered 26-year-old Kerber to smash her racket into the corner of the court, showing her huge disappointment.
Ivanonic said: "It was a great match in the end and the support from my fans means a lot to me."
She said she expected the remaining tournament to be very tough, especially because world's number one and 17-times Grand Slam winner Serena Williams also advanced with a 7-6 (10-8), 6-0 win over Russian Ekaterina Makarova.
Kerber will play Wednesday in the second round against Serena's sister Venus Williams, former world No. 1 and currently the world's number 44th.
Kerber's compatriot and Wimbledon 2013 finalist Sabine Lisicki also lost the first round in Dubai against Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.