Tennis: Fifth seed Ivanovic bundled out by Hradecka

Fifth seed Ana Ivanovic was knocked out of the Australian Open first round on Monday when she was upset by doubles specialist Lucie Hradecka 1-6 6-3 6-2.

The former French Open champion had roared through the first set in 21 minutes before the wheels fell off at Rod Laver Arena.

Hradecka, who played only three WTA level events in 2014, raced through the next two sets in just over an hour to send the Serb packing and set up a second-round encounter with Slovenia's Polona Hercog or China's Wang Qiang.

Ivanovic is the highest seed to exit so far, with number 32 Belinda Becic and 27th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova also first-round casualties. - Reuters