Another shocker at Roland Garros as former champion Ivanovic slumps to shock defeat against Safarova in third round
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic reacts to her third round loss to Lucie Safarova at the Roland Garros on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Paris: There were differing fortunes for two former French Open champions in Paris on Saturday.
Serbia's Ana Ivanovic reacts to her third round loss to Lucie Safarova at the Roland Garros on Saturday. Pic/AFP
Svetlana Kuznetsova knocked out fifth seed Petra Kvitova to reach the fourth round but Ana Ivanovic was beaten by Lucie Safarova.
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Ivanovic has been having her best season since winning the title in Paris in 2008 but had lost her previous four matches against left-hander Safarova.
It was the same story on Saturday as the Czech won 6-3 6-3 to reach the fourth round at a grand slam for the first time in seven years.
Ivanovic had been seen as one of the favourites to reach the final from the bottom half of the draw and she was hugely disappointed with her performance.
Lucie Safarova
She said: "My clay-court season was really good. I was very happy about that.
"Everyone was talking about seeds coming out, but not in my part (of the draw). I had a really tough opponent today. I lost to her a lot of times before. So I knew she was going to be dangerous opponent.
"I'm very disappointed about my loss today. It's hard to tell what can happen but definitely this loss is tough."
Safarova, who held match point against eventual Australian Open champion Li Na in the third round in Melbourne in January, next plays 2009 Paris champion Kuznetsova.
Kuznetsova and Kvitova was a meeting of two former grand slam champions and it took three hours and 13 minutes to separate them, the Russian winning 6-7 (3/7) 6-1 9-7.
After winning the opening set on a tie-break, Kvitova was hampered by a right thigh problem for which she twice received treatment off court.
Kuznetsova gave Serena Williams a fright in the quarter-finals last year and is always a dangerous player on clay.
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