New York: Eighth-seeded Ana Ivanovic is out of the US Open. Ivanovic, who had been having her best season since winning the French Open in 2008, lost to Karolina Pliskova 7-5, 6-4 in the second round on Thursday.
Ivanovic had 47 match wins coming into Flushing Meadows, the most of any woman on the tour this year. But she was unable to find a rhythm against Pliskova, a tall, big-hitting Czech ranked No. 42. Ivanovic struggled repeatedly with first serves and sprayed 39 unforced errors off her ground strokes.
Ivanovic failed to advance to the third round of a Grand Slam event for the first time this year. She is the highest seed to fall after No. 4 Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost to Peng Shuai in the second round.
Maria Sharapova came through the way she so often does in the crucible of a third set, beating 95th-ranked Alexandra Dulgheru of Romania 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament she won in 2006 but has missed twice in the past six years.
Sharapova won in part because of her big shots, yes, but also because she had more in the tank when it mattered.
"Overall I felt like in the end I was in much better shape than she was, and I could have played another few sets," Sharapova said. "Mentally that helped me a lot."
In another match, The 19th-seeded Williams, at 34 the oldest woman left in the draw, did not need to deal with too much trouble while beating 78th-ranked Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 6-1, 6-4 Wednesday night.
Well, now I'm happy. I won a match again. Finally I did something I couldn't do the last couple years," Williams said. "That's good stuff."
She showed bits and pieces of the type of game that once lifted her to the top of the sport - the No. 1 ranking and seven Grand Slam singles titles, including at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001.
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