BOKISSONTHRONE: ROLAND –GARROS 2009 Female Tennis-Ana Ivanovic

(CNN) --
In the final game of Female Tennis-Ana Ivanovic
Defending champion Ana Ivanovic continued her improved form on the French clay by beating Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0 6-2 to reach the last 16.

Ana Ivanovic entered Roland Garros with little match play and without the tremendous confidence level that brought her to the crown last year, but after a clinical 6-0 6-2 destruction of Czech Iveta Benesova in the third round, the Serbian served notice that she's not going away quietly.
“I have been working a lot,” she said. “Obviously I need also match confidence. I felt very good in my practices, but never had chance to play many matches in a row. Now I allow myself to make some mistakes and work myself into a tournament. I did that really well, so I'm really happy.”
Playing perhaps her most impressive match of the year, Ivanovic did everything that her new coach, Craig Kardon, has been asking her to do: dictating early, making better use of her forehand and closing as quickly as possible at the net.
The left-handed Benasova tried to string out Ivanovic from the baseline but it was of no use, as the Serbian adeptly moved her serve around, effectively attacked the Czech's second serves and kept her nose in front of almost every point.
Since she won her maiden Grand Slam title last year at Roland Garros, Ivanovic has often been plagued by indecisiveness, but that wasn't the case on Friday, as she executed her game plan precisely.

In the final game, she grabbed a match point with a gorgeous crosscourt backhand drop shot and the won the contest with a forehand winner.

“I feel physically fit and ready to handle any kind of opponent, said Ivanovic, who cracked 20 winners to only three from her opponent. “Obviously these kinds of matches help you for the tough matches over the second week. I think there are no easy matches anymore, and you have to work hard. I feel my game is coming back, and I feel more confident and more comfortable on the court. I just feel content about my fitness level as well.”
The eighth seed will face either No. 9 Victoria Azarenka or Spaniard Carla Suarez Navarro. She has never played either on the pro level.

“[Suarez] is a tough opponent on the clay,” Ivanovic said. “She brings a lot of balls back. Azarenka's playing really well and she's an aggressive player. She really commits for her shots and she likes to dominate. So if I can have the first shot, it's going to be crucial.”

Seven-time grand slam champion Venus Williams crashed out of the French Open on Friday as she was thrashed 6-0 6-4 by Agnes Szavay of Hungary.It was the third straight year that Williams has gone out at the same stage on the clay of Roland Garros, but defeat to 29th seed was still unexpected.

Third seed Williams had charted a perilous course to the last 32, saving a match point on Thursday against Lucie Safarova, but her luck ran out against Szavay.The Hungarian took the first set in 30 minutes without dropping a game, but Williams hit back in typical fashion to move a break ahead in the second set.

But a double fault allowed Szavay to level at 4-4 and after holding her own service she broke the Wimbledon champion again to seal the biggest win of her career.She will next take on Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia for a place in the quarterfinals.Earlier, Cibulkova defeated Gisela Dulko of Argentina 6-4 6-2.
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Five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams may be known for her high-octane offence, but it was her steely defence that pulled her through in a remarkable 6-7(2) 6-2 7-5 victory over Czech Lucie Safarova on Thursday.

Down 4-5 in the final set of a match that had been suspended for darkness the previous evening, Williams fought off a match point with a clean backhand winner down the line and from there, put up a wall from the baseline.While Williams can rip the ball off both wings and owns the world’s hardest women’s serve, Safarova matched her firepower inside the baseline, frequently wrong-footing her with forehand blasts and stepping gamely into her two-handed backhand.Despite her advancing age compared with many on the WTA circuit and her relative dislike of clay, Williams is still a fleet mover and ran sideline-to-sideline chasing down her foe’s blasts until she finally found an opening.

She broke the lefty Czech to lead 6-5 with another edition of her money shot, a backhand down the line, and then coolly held on by playing consistent tennis to take the contest when a Safarova backhand hit the let cord and fell backward.Williams, a 2002 Roland Garros finalist, is not one of the hot favourites here but cannot be counted out of a maiden title run. While the third seed has not won a Slam off grass since 2001 when she went own her second consecutive US Open, she is a smart, experienced player who would love to add the Roland Garros title to her resume. She will face talented Hungarian Agnes Szavay in the next round.None of the other top seeds was pushed, with No5 Jelena Jankovic beating Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia 6-1 6-2,No7 Svetlana Kuznetsova overcoming Galina Voskoboeva 6-0 6-2 and No10 Caroline Wozniacki besting American Jill Craybas 6-1 6-4.Spain’s Lourdes Dominguez Lino took out American Fed Cup heroine Alexa Glatch 7-6(0) 7-5, leaving only the Williams sisters left flying the US flag in the women’s draw. North American neighbour Aleksandra Wozniak of Canada however is through to the third round, cruising past Petra Martic of Croatia 6-3 6-3.