Ivanovic eases into 2nd round at Qatar Open

DOHA, Qatar (AP) -Serbia's Ana Ivanovic advanced to the second round of the Qatar Open on Monday when her opponent Carla Suarez Navarro withdrew midway through their match because of a back injury.

Ivanovic, the 2008 French Open champion, was leading 6-1, 4-1 when Suarez Navarro left the court.

Trailing 1-2 in the second set, Suarez Navarro had already sought court-side treatment from the WTA Tour medical team. The 23-year-old Spaniard then briefly left the court before resuming the set.

"It is very unfortunate for her," Ivanovic said. "It is never enjoyable to win a match like that, but I hope she recovers fast. I am happy with the way I played in the match."

Two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia joined Ivanovic in the second round after a 7-5, 6-3 win over Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez of Spain.

After a slow start, the former French and U.S. Open champion breezed through the second set to set up a match against Jie Zheng of China or Maria Kirilenko of Russia.

"It was definitely a tough win for me," Kuznetsova said.

In the first upset of the event, Kazakhstan's Ksenia Pervak rallied from a set down to beat 10th-seeded Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

It was the 20-year-old Pervak's fourth win of the season.

China's Shuai Peng, seeded 14th, overcame a slight stutter in the second set to see off qualifier Fatma Al Nabhani of Oman. Peng, the 26-year-old from Tianjin, won 6-0, 7-5 in one hour 15 minutes on the Centre Court.

Elsewhere, Israel's Shahar Peer beat Moroccan wildcard Nadia Lalami 6-0, 6-0.