Ivanovic's focus on tennis, not men

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BRISBANE, Australia -- Tuning up for the Australian Open and aiming for another big year, top-seeded Ana Ivanovic began her 2009 season Monday night with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic at the Brisbane International.

Ivanovic reached the Australian Open final last season and held the No. 1 ranking for part of the year after winning the French Open. The Serb was injured during the middle of the season and finished with a No. 5 ranking.

After setting up triple match point on Kvitova's serve and winning with a forehand, Ivanovic waved and blew kisses to the vocal, pro-Serbian crowd. She will next play Italy's Roberta Vinci, who beat Germany's Anna-Lena Groenefeld 0-6, 6-3, 6-1.

"It is always tough," Ivanovic said. "I had to fight for each point. It's good, especially in a first match."

The inaugural Brisbane International is a joint ATP-WTA event and one of several warmups for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 19.

Spain's Fernando Verdasco, who is seeded third and finished last season at No. 16, followed Ivanovic by beating local wild-card entry Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-2.

Ivanovic and Ferdasco are something of an item. Ferdasco was playing immediately after Ivanovic and watched her match.

"Here we're doing our jobs," he said. "We will have time to be together after the Australian Open. For now, it's time to play tennis and to be focused on it."

Three seeded women lost: Italy's Sara Errani beat fourth-seeded Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 6-7 (1), 6-4, 6-0; Olga Govortsova of Belarus ousted eighth-seeded Francesca Schiavone of Italy 7-5, 6-2; and Australian Samantha Stosur defeated ninth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan 6-2, 6-3.

Amelie Mauresmo, whose ranking has slipped to No. 24 from No. 1 in 2006 when she won two Grand Slam titles, fended off two set points in the first before beating Australia's Jelena Dokic 7-6 (9), 7-6 (5).

.Mauresmo has been working with new coach Hugo Lecoq since failing to finish in the top 20 last year for the first time in a decade.

"It was a tough first match -- she was playing some good tennis and gave me a bit of trouble," Mauresmo said. "But there were good things. Physically I felt good on the court. That's a key point for me."

Dokic, who has fallen to No. 177 after reaching a career-high No. 4 in 2002, is a wild card in Brisbane and trying to return to the top level.

"It's disappointing because I had a chance ... but I'm proud," Dokic said. "I had two tight sets against a girl in the top 20. If you'd said six months ago I'd be this close, I'd have said you're crazy."

.On the men's side, Finland's Jarkko Nieminen advanced with a 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win over an ailing Marcos Baghdatis. Baghdatis, a Greek Cypriot who earned a big following Down Under when he reached the Australian Open final in 2006, needed treatment on his left hamstring in the second set.

Eighth-seeded Radek Stepanek of the Czech Republic topped Igor Kunitsyn of Russia 6-2, 6-2, and Jurgen Melzer of Austria beat Mardy Fish of the U.S. 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (4).

.Top-seeded Novak Djokovic, the defending Australian Open champion, opens Tuesday against Latvia's Ernests Gulbis. Djokovic could overtake Roger Federer for the No. 2 ranking behind Rafael Nadal if he wins in Brisbane. Djokovic is just 10 points behind Federer, who is starting his year in Qatar.