Ivanovic beats title defender Halep at Dubai Women's Tennis Open

Serbian elite player Ana Ivanovic won here Wednesday the second round of the Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships against 2015 winner Simona Halep from Romania 7-6, 6-2.

The highly motivated Ivanovic who expressed after her first round victory her keenness on winning against the 24-year-old Halep, delivered only in the first set a neck on neck battle, but made few mistakes in the second set against her opponent.

The 1.84 meter tall Serbian, ranked 20th in the world, used her height superiority to the fullest against the smaller Halep who measures at 1.68 meter and left the center court victorious after one hour and 52 minutes.

The match started late after 7pm local time due to a thunderstorm that hit Dubai late afternoon.

In another second round match, Germany's Andrea Petkovic, ranked 101st, upset world number 19 Jelena Jankovic from Serbia in straight sets 6-3, 6-2 after one hour and 18 minutes.

Italy's Sara Errani, ranked 22nd, left no chance for Yaroslava Shvedova, beating the Russian who plays for Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-0. France's Caroline Garcia won 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 against Spain's Carla Navarro. Their match was interrupted by rain for hours in the late third set. Czech elite player Barbora Strycova defeated German Julia Goerges 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Enditem