By Adrianna Outlaw | Tuesday, October 20, 2015

 

No. 2-seeded Ana Ivanovic broke serve five times in a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Heather Watson in her Luxembourg opener.

Photo credit: Christopher Levy

Top seeds took different paths to the Luxembourg Open second round.

Second seeded Ana Ivanovic broke serve five times defeating Heather Watson, 6-4, 6-3, in 70 minutes.

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The 12th-ranked Serbian reeled off the final five points, exploiting three double faults from Watson, to beat the 23-year-old Briton in their first meeting.

"I was very happy about this victory because I expected a tough match — I know Heather's a great fighter and she can play really well against top players," Ivanovic told WTA Tennis.com. "I started off well. I was very aggressive, and I executed my game plan very well, so I was really happy about that today."

It was Ivanovic's first match since she lost to Timea Bacsinszky in the Beijing semifinals. Closure did not come easily.

"The second set was tricky. It was 5-1, then all of a sudden it was 5-3 and she had 40-0," Ivanovic said. "The score was indicating it was getting really close — and it was just one break, too. She started playing so well, swinging much more and putting much more pressure on me. Thankfully I was able to close it out."

Ivanovic will face 47th-ranked Belgian Alison Von Uytvanck next. Von Uytvanck was a 6-2, 7-6 (4) victor over qualifier Richel Hogenkamp.

Third-seeded Sara Errani fought back from a 5-7, 2-4 deficit to defeat French qualifier Julie Coin, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1. The former French Open finalist will play veteran Mirjana Lucic-Baroni in the second round.

No. 7-seeded Barbora Strycova swept Yanina Wickmayer, 6-4, 6-2.