BEIJING: Ana Ivanovic didn’t dare to discuss her chances of reaching the end-of-season WTA Finals on Saturday despite making a rip-roaring start to the China Open.
After a slow opening, the former world number one reeled off 10 games in a row to beat a shell-shocked Casey Dellacqua 6-4, 6-0 and set up a second-round match with Venus Williams.
A raft of late-season injuries and retirements have raised the chances of ninth-ranked Ivanovic reaching the year-ender in Singapore but she refused to jinx herself by discussing it publicly.
“To be honest I’m not looking that far ahead. Every time you think about that it kind of backfires,” she said.
“You have to really stay humble and work hard for each match. We see there are so many tough opponents out there... so you really have to keep your head in the right place and play like you practice.”
Ivanovic is currently about 800 points adrift in the race for the eight-player WTA Finals later this month, with 1,000 points going to the winner in Beijing.