Ivanovic goes down
Ana Ivanovic was eliminated from the US Open first round on Monday, losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova and gave Serena Williams a helping hand in her Grand Slam history bid.
Serbian seventh seed Ivanovic, a quarter-finalist in 2012, was in Williams's half of the draw, a section which had already lost Maria Sharapova through injury even before the tournament started.
World number one Williams is bidding to become the first woman since Steffi Graf in 1988 to complete a calendar Grand Slam.
Russian third seed Sharapova withdrew from the US Open on Sunday with a right leg injury. US Open tournament director David Brewer announced Sharapova's exit, which allowed qualifying lucky loser Daria Kasatkina of Russia into the draw in Sharapova's place.
"Unfortunately I will not be able to compete in this years US Open," Sharapova said in a Twitter posting. "I have done everything possible to be ready but it was just not enough time.
"To all my amazing fans, I will be back in the Asian swing in a few weeks and look forward to finishing the year healthy and strong.
Cibulkova, ranked 50th in the world after sitting out three months to undergo surgery on her left foot, will face American qualifier Jessica Pegula for a place in the last 32.
"It feels real cosy," said the 26-year-old Cibulkova of the huge superstructure which towers over the Arthur Ashe Stadium and has been built to hold a retractable roof which will be in operation next year.
The pint-sized Cibulkova made the quarter-finals in New York in 2010 but had fallen in the first round in the last two years.
Monday's win, her third in five meetings against former French Open champion Ivanovic, opened play at the 2015 tournament.
But it was not the greatest of encounters, with the fractured affair featuring 11 breaks of serve while Ivanovic required treatment on her left foot after slipping 4-1 down in the decider.
"I knew I had to bring my best tennis today. I had to stay tough as I knew she would not give me a single ball," said Cibulkova.
With Ivanovic and Sharapova no longer involved, Williams finds eighth-seeded Czech Karolina Pliskova as the highest-ranked player in her half.
Prior to pulling out of the tournament for the second time in three years, Sharapova described the injury as "just a muscle strain".
"I've done everything I could to be ready," Sharapova said. "There's nothing more that I could have done."
Sharapova did make the publicity rounds in the days before the US Open, including a photo shoot with a New York taxi and many of her rivals that noted her position at the front, well away from Williams and ex-boyfriend Grigor Dimitrov.
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