No. 1 ranked Ivanovic almost lost to Dechy in straight sets, as Nathalie won the first set and held two match points at 5-4 in the second set, but that wasn't the end as Ana fought until the end to defeat her inspired opponent 67(2) 76(3) 108.
"I feel very lucky," Ivanovic declared. "It was a tough match. She played very well. At times I thought I wasn't serving so well; my percentage was so low. And she was serving well and her balls were so deep. She put lots of pressure on me. I felt like I wasn't doing enough, and she was playing so well. Like I said, I feel lucky just to have a chance to play again."
On Dechy's second match point, Ivanovic hit a forehand that clipped the net, and luckily went into Dechy's court, saving the last chance Dechy would get for a match point.
"I thought the match was over," Ivanovic added. "I felt like time stopped for a moment. The ball hit the net then stayed in the air for a couple of seconds. It was moving away so I thought even if it went over it would go out. Just so many thoughts at same moment. But then I got so, so lucky. I had to think of it as new match after that, a new opportunity. At that point I felt like I had nothing to lose, because I felt like I'd lost the match already."
Other winners of today are Svetlana Kuznetsova, who ousted Birmingham champion Kateryna Bondarenko in straight sets, 62 63; two-time champion Serena Williams, who crushed Urszula Radwanska also in straight sets, 64 64; and Anna Chakvetadze recovered from her ugly first round match to defeat Edina Gallovits, 64 62.
"I was playing more like you should play on grass, unlike my first match, where I was playing more like on clay," said Kuznetsova, who was down 3-1 in the third set of her first round victory over Mathilde Johansson. "Today I was inside the baseline and hit the ball early. On Monday I was playing better on the important points, but today I played my best from the start."
Williams, the champion here in 2002 and 2003, will next face No.29 seed and 2006 champion Amélie Mauresmo, who beat Virginia Ruano Pascual, 46 61 61. Williams and Mauresmo have a lengthy rivalry, having played 11 times before. Although Williams leads 9-2, Mauresmo did win their most recent meeting, in the fourth round of the US Open two years ago, 6-2 in the third set.
"I haven't played her in a while," Williams said. "I look forward to it. I'm excited, I had no idea I was going to play her next. She's been struggling a lot this year but you can only hope she does well, especially being a past champion here, and a past champion in general. It will be a good match."
"It's definitely going to be tough," Mauresmo said. "I haven't seen her play here yet, but I know her game pretty well, what she's going to do and what to expect. I hope I'll be ready in a couple days for this match. One big key will be serving well, because she serves very well."
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