Defending champion Ana Ivanovic [ Images ] came through a tough first set to beat Akgul Amanmuradova of Uzbekistan 7-6, 6-2 and reach the third round of the German Open on Wednesday.

Ivanovic, seeded second behind Justine Henin [ Images ], took time to adjust to the heavy clay court at Steffi Graf [ Images ] Stadium and was grateful to come through the opening set with a 7-0 victory in the tiebreak.

That emphatic scoreline seemed to encourage her, and the Serb looked a lot more fluent as she completed victory in 90 minutes.

Fourth seeded Serb Jelena Jankovic [ Images ] also had a few problems early on before her class told in a 7-5, 6-0 win over Peng Shuai [ Images ] of China.