Venus, Ivanovic advance to third round

NEW YORK -- Venus Williams was made to work a little harder than expected at the U.S. Open on Wednesday when she battled past Ioana Raluca Olaru of Romania 6-4, 6-2 to reach the third round.

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Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic recovered from a slow start to beat Aravane Rezai of France 6-3, 6-1 and reach the third round.

Williams, the Wimbledon champion and 12th seed, hit six double-faults and was a little ragged but won through to a meeting with 21st seed Alona Bondarenko of Ukraine or Eleni Daniilidou of Greece.

Williams looked to be heading for a quick win when she surged to a 5-2 lead, but world No. 84 Olaru showed some good retrieving skills to get back on serve at 4-5.

The American broke again to win the set and then eased through the second to book her place in the next round.

Ivanovic trailed 3-1 in the opening set but stormed back to set up a meeting with Russian Vera Dushevina, who beat Ekaterina Bychkova 6-4, 6-3.

"It was a very slow start for me," Ivanovic said.

"I was a little bit nervous and I was going for a bit too much. Then as the match went on I got a little bit in the rhythm and took my opportunities," she said.

Ivanovic dropped her serve in the opening game but, from 3-1 down, reeled off eight straight games to lead by a set and 3-0.

World No. 61 Rezai, who reached the fourth round last year, held serve in the fourth game before Ivanovic eased to victory.

Ivanovic, who became at the French Open this year the first Serb to reach a Grand Slam singles final, lost to Venus Williams in the semifinals at Wimbledon and could meet the American again in the fourth round.

The 19-year-old said her expectations were not quite so high this time.

"It's not a secret that my part of the draw is much harder," Ivanovic said. "But I feel very good physically and also mentally and think I am playing well at the moment.

"My first goal is to reach the second week, do better than last year [third round]. Hopefully I can win my next match and then play Venus again," she said.

In other action, 14th seed Elena Dementieva beat Petra Cetkovska 6-3, 6-2;. Ekaterina Makarova upset 28th seed Ai Sugiyama 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; and 19th seed Sybille Bammer defeated American Meghann Shaughnessy 6-4, 6-3.

Source: ESPN.com