Ivanovic crashes out

Ana Ivanovic will head straight to Melbourne after crashing out in the first round of the Sydney International.

Former number one suffers second early exit in a row

Ana Ivanovic will head straight to Melbourne after crashing out in the first round of the Sydney International. The former world number one, now ranked 22nd, went down 7-6 6-2 to Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic on Sunday, hot on the heels of a second round loss in Brisbane last week. Ivanovic admitted a missed smash that would have set up set point in the tie-breaker was a pivotal moment in the match. "I kept replaying that shot in my mind throughout the whole match," she said. "I felt like that was the turning point. "It gives me plenty of time to work on a few things and tune up, but I feel my game is there. "It's still going to be good to have a few days to work. I had a good off-season and I just want to try and keep at it." In Sunday's only other completed match Jelena Dokic defeated the unfortunate Isabelle Holland 6-0 6-0. A third match was suspended by rain with Slovakian Dominika Cibulkova up a service break against Peng Shuai of China, leading 6-2 4-6 4-3.