Ivanovic cruises into third round

MELBOURNE, Australia - Ana Ivanovic is regaining momentum at the Australian Open, beating Italian Alberta Brianti 6-3, 6-2 on Wednesday to reach the third round of the year's first major.

Ivanovic lost the last Australian Open final to Maria Sharapova, then won her first Grand Slam title at the French Open and gained the No. 1 ranking.

Now seeded fifth, the 21-year-old Serb is getting inspiration from memories of her run here last year.

"It was amazing, I'm so happy to be back here," Ivanovic said. "I had lots of great matches here last year."

Dictating play and ripping winners into the corners, Ivanovic repeatedly took advantage of Brianti's weak serve. The 28-year-old Italian held serve only three times.

No. 3 Dinara Safina rallied for a 6-7 (3), 6-3, 6-0 win over fellow Russian Ekaterina Makarova and will next play No. 25 Kaie Kanepi of Estonia.

In early men's matches, No. 11 David Ferrer of Spain had a 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 win over 31-year-old qualifier Dominik Hrbaty, who had helped Slovakia win the Hopman Cup title in Perth earlier this month.

Rafael Nadal, ditching his trademark sleeveless top for a conventional T-shirt, bullied Christophe Rochus around Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday night in a 6-0, 6-2, 6-2 first-round win.

The 22-year-old Spaniard had 10 aces and hit 47 winners in 22 games. Rochus, a Belgian who turned 30 last month, could get nowhere near most of them.

- Associated Press