Davenport crushes Ivanovic in Miami

By Sandra Harwitt

MIAMI (Reuters) - American Lindsay Davenport rolled back the years by crushing world number two Ana Ivanovic 6-4 6-2 in the Sony Ericsson Open third round on Sunday.

Top seed Justine Henin, Svetlana Kuznetsova and the Williams sisters all advanced safely to the fourth round but the experienced Davenport took centre stage with her victory over in-form Ivanovic.

The Serb, who arrived in Miami after winning the Pacific Life Open title, had no answers to the aggressive game brought to the court by world number 33 Davenport.

"Obviously the first time you play against someone you try to get to know them and try to get rhythm in the beginning," Ivanovic said.

"But against her you just don't get it. She was playing extremely well."

Ivanovic is the second top-10 player Davenport has beaten since returning to the tour last September after giving birth to her first child.

Davenport won 13 of 14 points at the net and cancelled out her 20 unforced errors with 20 winners.

The former world number one led 6-4 3-0 when it appeared Ivanovic might fight back when she broke serve in the fourth game, but Davenport recovered the break immediately.