Under pressure Ivanovic advances

Ana Ivanovic admitted that the mental stress she faced on court today far outweighed the physical effort required to defeat Russia’s Nadia Petrova for a place in the Wimbledon quarter-finals.

The 19-year-old Serb progressed to the last eight for the first time in her short career with a 6-1 2-6 6-4 triumph against the 11th seed from Moscow, but the game was a stop-start affair with three rain delays disrupting the flow of the match.

The French Open runner-up cruised to victory in the first set, but a short rain break revitalised Petrova, who claimed the second before Ivanovic hit back in a dramatic decider.

Ivanovic said: “It was a very tough match today, especially with so many stops and starts. It was very, very tough out there.

“Not so much physically as mentally. With lots of ups and downs in my game, I had to fight for every point.

“In the first set I played some really good tennis. I was doing everything right; I was hardly making any mistakes – [but] we had to stop.

“When I came back, I lost a little concentration and felt a little bit empty inside, not so in the fighting spirit.”

The next rain delay brought some much-needed respite for the number six seed, who was on the ropes after a number of unforced errors handed Petrova the second set and a 2-1 lead in the third.

“That stop we had in the third set helped me to calm down, come back on the court and try to fight through it,” Ivanovic added.

“My shots and my serve were not working as well today, but sometimes you have to win when you don’t play your best tennis.”

The match might have been over much sooner had another shower not arrived as Ivanovic prepared to serve out the match at 5-4 in the decider.

The umpire allowed the game to start amid steady drizzle, but only two points could be put up on the board before play was suspended.

Ivanovic continued: “I went out there on 5-4 to serve and I looked at the sky. It was all dark.

“I thought: is this game going to hold? I made a good first serve, was 15-love up and thought we could maybe finish the game.

“But at 15-15 it started pouring down so we had to stop.

“I was obviously nervous, so that was a good thing, to stop. I was definitely in a much better situation when the match continued.”

Ivanovic now faces a plumb last-eight tie against Amelie Mauresmo’s conqueror, Nicole Vaidisova, and admits she is happy with her progress on the grass courts of SW19.

“Even before I came, everybody was telling me that I was going to do well here,” said Ivanovic. “They said I had a powerful game, a good serve, that I would do well.

“I really enjoy playing on grass. It’s a different kind of tennis, but it’s faster, which I enjoy.”