Ivanovic downed in first round

Ana Ivanovic is out of the US Open in the first round for the second straight year after a 7-6 (7-4) 6-1 loss to Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic.

Ivanovic is a former No.1 player and 2008 French Open winner who has slipped to No.31 in the rankings.

The Serb was serving for the first set at 6-5 on Tuesday but struggled with her serve and faltered in the tiebreaker. She finished with seven double-faults and 41 unforced errors.

The loss left Ivanovic searching for answers about how she can climb back up the rankings.

“I feel like I have been putting a lot of work on the court and in the gym over the year,” she said.

“It’s been very frustrating not getting anything in return, because I really feel like I invested my heart and also the work.”

Ivanovic, who turns 29 in November, said she’s not considering retirement. She married German soccer star Bastian Schweinsteiger this summer, and he will play his last match for the national team on Wednesday.

“No, not at all,” she said. “I just need to really see why is this happening.”

The former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion served for the first set against Allertova at 6-5, but was unable to close it out and faltered in the tiebreaker.

Ivanovic said the difference in the tiebreaker was probably her confidence.

“I had that set point, you know, and I went for my big forehand and it was quite a bad miss because I was a little bit in two minds what to do with it,” the Serbian player said.

In the second set, her strategy of pulling back on big shots backfired.

“I tried to go less for it because I tried to make less errors,” she said. “Basically, I ended up making more.”

Earlier, fifth seed Simona Halep blasted her way into the second round by demolishing Kirsten Flipkens 6-0 6-2 and underlining her credentials as a potential grand slam winner.

Halep, a winner of three WTA Tour events this season, carried her superb form into Flushing Meadows as she needed just one hour on a sun-splashed but almost vacant Arthur Ashe Stadium court to dismiss the 56th-ranked Belgian.

Flipkens, a former grand slam semi-finalist who advanced to the last 16 at the Rio Olympics, look headed to a humiliating double bagel as Halep swept through the opening 11 games.

But with Halep serving for the match Flipkens broke her Romanian opponent before thrusting her arms into the air in mock triumph.

Flipkens would then hold serve for the first time but her late bit of resistance only prolonged the inevitable as Halep closed out the rout to setting up a second-round meeting with Czech Lucie Safarova.

Venus Williams joined Halep in the second round, though the American sixth seed had to work a bit harder than the Romanian.

She needed three sets to defeat Kateryna Kozlova of Ukraine 6-2 5-7 6-4 despite 63 unforced errors.