By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, April 21, 2015
Caroline Garcia saved three set points in the first-set tie break defeating Ana Ivanovic for the third time this season, 7-6 (6), 6-4 in Stuttgart.
Photo credit: Christopher Levy
Ana Ivanovic arrived in Stuttgart eager to jump-start her clay-court season.
The 2014 Stuttgart finalist ran into a familiar roadblock who sent her packing in the first round.
Caroline Garcia saved three set points in the first-set tie break defeating the fifth-seeded Serbian, 7-6 (6), 6-4, to advance to the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix second round.
Video: Stars Party in Stuttgart
The sight of the 29th-ranked Frenchwoman on the opposite side of the net must be disconcerting to Ivanovic.
It marked the third time this season Garcia has beaten the former world No. 1. She defeated Ivanovic, 6-1, 6-4, in last month's Monterrey semifinals and followed that up with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2, victory at Indian Wells.
In their lone clay-court meeting, Ivanovic swept Garcia, 6-1, 6-3, in the 2014 Roland Garros opening round.
Trailing 3-5 today, Ivanovic fought back to force the tie break. The set was within reach when Ivanovic earned triple set point at 6-3 in the breaker. But Garcia dug in and reeled off five consecutive points to snatch a one-set lead.
Garcia served 65 percent and won 15 of 17 points played on her first serve in the second set.
Garcia, who bounced back from a pair of singles losses to Lucie Safarova and Petra Kvitova in last weekend's Fed Cup semifinals, equaled her career-best win by defeating the sixth-ranked Ivanovic. Next up for Garcia is German wild card Carina Witthoeft.
Former French Open champion Ivanovic, who lost to Maria Sharapova in the 2014 Stuttgart final, is defending quarterfinal points in Madrid and a semifinal result in Rome and will get back to work on clay.
Miami finalist Carla Suárez Navarro squandered a 5-3 second-set lead, but regained control in the third set dispatching Russian qualifier Evgeniya Rodina, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4. The eighth-seeded Spaniard plays either German wild card Julia Goerges or Swiss Belinda Bencic next.