Ana Ivanovic of Serbia plays a shot to Lucie Hradecka of the Czech Republic during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championship in Melbourne, Australia, Monday, Jan. 19, 2015. AP
MELBOURNE, Australia — Fifth-seeded Ana Ivanovic struggled with her serve and lost in three sets to Czech qualifier Lucie Hradecka in first big upset of the Australian Open on Monday, Ivanovic’s worst result in a major since 2011.
The former No. 1-ranked Ivanovic, a finalist at the 2008 Australian Open, breezed through the first set in 21 minutes with three service breaks before No. 142-ranked Hradecka started to find her range.
Ivanovic, who had a tour-leading 58 match wins in 2014 and started this season by reaching the final at the Brisbane International, had 10 double-faults and made 30 unforced errors.
Hradecka clinched it on her first match point, making amends for her first-round loss to Ivanovic at Wimbledon in 2009 when she wasted a match point.