Ana Ivanovic beat Jelena Dokic 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 on Monday to advance to the second round of the Brisbane International in her first tour match in three months.
The third-seeded Ivanovic won the last three games after a tight tussle on Monday with Dokic, converting her second match point after the Australian player dumped a forehand into the net.
Ivanovic hasn’t played since a first-round exit at Tokyo in September, which followed a disappointing first-round exit at the U.S. Open. It was a tough workout overall for Ivanovic, who didn’t win a tournament in 2009 and has slipped to No. 21 in the rankings.
Dokic led 4-2 in the opening set before Ivanovic won three straight games to get back on serve and clinched the set when the Australian player double-faulted on set point.
Dokic levelled at one set apiece after racing to a 5-0 lead in the second, dropping only one game and forcing the third set when 2008 French Open champion Ivanovic sent a forehand wide against her second set point.
Ivanovic converted an important break in the fifth game, again on a Dokic double-fault, to take a 3-2 lead in the deciding set but gave it back in the next game.
Dokic saved a match-point with a serve wide to the backhand side, but then gave Ivanovic another with a backhand error and gave it up with a double-fault.
