Ivanovic beats Schiavone at Hopman Cup

Ana Ivanovic. AFP FILE PHOTO

PERTH — A confident Ana Ivanovic defeated Francesca Schiavone 6-0, 6-4 on Monday to give Serbia a 1-0 lead over Italy in the Hopman Cup mixed team competition.

World number one Novak Djokovic will seek to secure the tie for Serbia when he faces Andreas Seppi in the men’s match, with mixed doubles to follow.

The two teams are in Group A, where Australia won the opening contest over Germany on Saturday when Andrea Petkovic had to retire from the singles and forfeit the mixed after suffering a knee injury.