Ivanovic takes confident next step in comeback

Ana Ivanovic, the top seed here a scant two years ago, is seeking a tour comeback at the tender age of 22, having suffered a precipitous fall that had less to do with injury than her confidence deserting her.

The personable poster girl, a former world No. 1, crashed to earth after capturing the championship at Roland Garros in 2008 and recently dropped to No. 65 in the world.

Taking the court at Arthur Ashe vs. Zheng Jie, the 21st seed, Ivanovic looked awfully close to that No. 1 player of old, smacking flat forehand winners deep to the corners, returning serve aggressively from inside the baseline, and punctuating points at the net. The Serb defeated Zheng, the compact Chinese player who had won their last two encounters, including a first-round Wimbledon match, in surprisingly dominant fashion, 6-3, 6-0, in just 55 minutes.

"I feel like I'm playing like a top-10 player right now, and I have confidence that I can beat these players," said Ivanovic.

This summer, Ivanovic had begun to show some signs of life on the U.S. hard courts, her trademark girly fist pumps again celebrations of winners rather than mere exhortations to keep it together.

But in Cincinnati, where Ivanovic played well to reach the semifinals, she suffered an ankle injury that caused her withdrawal from last week's Pilot Pen and threatened to derail her resurgence. Indeed, she could not practice for 10 days prior to the US Open.

Acknowledging the weight of expectations placed upon her -- which include not only the expectations to win Grand Slams but the pressures of being a marquee player, teen idol and sometimes fashion model, heavily marketed by her sponsor and the WTA Tour -- Ivanovic said that "outside effects create some doubts."

Trying to rebound from a fall from grace, however, has given the Serb renewed perspective. "The biggest change with me," she said, "is that I managed to sort of let go of this. I feel like I'm just coming up again and have nothing to lose. I got that joy of competing again."

Against Zheng, the unseeded Ivanovic scrambled about the court, showing no signs of injury other than a heavily taped left ankle, and her groundstrokes were as confident as her brilliant pink-and-fucshia dress. She struck 22 winners, made just 11 unforced errors and converted five out of six break-point opportunities. Ivanovic polished off 10 of 13 points at net.

The only blemish on an otherwise extremely clean performance was a frustratingly errant ball toss, which led to three double faults. "There are still some bad ball tosses," Ivanovic admitted, "but I hope I'm not as famous for that anymore."

Famous, though, she certainly is.