Top seed Ivanovic ousted by qualifier Coin
NEW YORK (Reuters) - World number one Ana Ivanovic was knocked out of the U.S. Open in the second round in a shocking 6-3 4-6 6-3 upset by French qualifier Julie Coin on Thursday.
The Serbian suffered the earliest exit by a women's top seed at the U.S. Open since tennis turned professional in 1968.
Lacking match practice after a right thumb injury, the 20-year-old world number one never found her groove against a player ranked 188th in the world, double faulting at key moments and repeatedly netting easy shots or hitting them long.
The tally of 34 unforced errors and eight double faults told it all for Ivanovic, who scraped by the first round in three sets over 57th-ranked Russian Vera Dushevina.
Coin, 25, admitted to nerves in her first match on the top court and said she never believed she had a chance until it was all over.
"I think I did a lot of aces and this helped me a lot. And she made a lot of errors, so that helped me too," Coin said in a courtside interview.
Ivanovic made a shaky start and was broken in the seventh game by Coin, who was on the attack from the start, pushing forward to the net. Ivanovic saved two break points but then double faulted on the third to go down 3-4 in the first set.
The Frenchwoman, who belted five aces in the match, then held serve easily and took her chance at 5-3 up against a nervous-looking Ivanovic to win the first set.
Coin looked poised to break again in the second after a double fault and an unforced error gave her two break points at 1-2, but Ivanovic held her nerve and won the game on a deep shot that crept in by the tiniest margin.
The qualifier kept up the pressure, throwing in a few aces and holding her own at the baseline.
Ivanovic showed some flashes of form to win the second set but Coin refused to be intimidated and registered another break to go 4-2 up in the third, using her big forehand to win 10 points in row during that stretch.
Showing some nerves at the end, Coin double faulted on her first match point at 5-3 to go to deuce. Ivanovic saved another match point before hitting a forehand wide on the third match point of the one hour, 57-minute tilt at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Coin, who was a top U.S. college player at Clemson University, will face fellow Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo in the third round.
"I know that she was number one in the world and I know she's a great player. I am just really proud to play her in the next match," Coin said.
(Additional reporting by Pritha Sarkar and Simon Cambers)
