Serbian Ana Ivanovic started the 2010 season with a win at the Brisbane International. The 2008 French Open champion defeated Australia’s Jelena Dokic 75 16 63 to advance to the second round.
The former world number one has not played on tour since her surprising first round exit at a tournament in Tokyo last September. Her ranking decline following early tournament exits including her first round loss at the US Open.
Ivanovic said that she’s raring to make a grand return to the world’s top ten. She’s currently ranked 21st.
“Obviously there were nerves in the beginning, but I did a really good preparation and that gave me a lot of confidence,” she said.
Other first round winners at the Brisbane International include Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic.
