TOKYO, Jan 31: Sixth seed Daniela Hantuchova overcame a slow start to beat Jelena Jankovic of Serbia and Montenegro in the first round of the Pan Pacific Open tennis tournament on Tuesday.

The Slovakian pin-up girl came back from one set and 0-3 down in the final set to score a 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 win and stayed on course for a re-match against defending champion Maria Sharapova.

“I tried to be more aggressive and go for my shots a little bit more, because in the first set I felt I was not aggressive enough,” said Hantuchova after the one-hour and 55-minute match.

“I just kept fighting for every point, trying to hang in there, and waited for my chances and won them when they came.”

Hantuchova, who bowed to Sharapova in the Australian Open fourth round, was the last player to defeat the Russian in Tokyo and hopes to repeat her performance of two years ago.

“It was great for me in Australia. I couldn’t ask for a better start to the year. I played some really, really good matches. I can’t say that I was expecting it to happen,” said Hantuchova.

“I was really proud that I was strong mentally in all the matches, I just tried to do right things on the court and most of the time I was doing them well. It’s great to be able to continue like that here as well.

“Definitely I felt like I always played well in Tokyo, I like the fast speed of the ball, it’s very similar to grass,” added Hantuchova.

Before meeting Sharapova in the quarter-finals, she must beat either Samantha Stosur of Australia or Aiko Nakamura of Japan.

Sharapova, receiving a first-round bye, will take on the winner between Lisa Raymond and Meilen Tu, both from the United States, in the second round.

Fifth seed Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic was a straightforward 6-3, 6-1 winner over Japan’s Rika Fujiwara, while eighth seed Ana Ivanovic of Serbia and Montenegro downed local ace Ai Sugiyama 6-3, 6-0.

In other matches, Tatiana Golovin of France crashed to a 6-3, 6-0 defeat to her compatriot Marion Bartoli, while Maria Kirilenko of Russia downed Mara Santangelo of Italy 6-4, 6-1.

Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia was a 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 winner over American Jill Craybas.

Results (first round)

Nicole Vaidisova (CZE) bt Rika Fujiwara (JPN) 6-3, 6-1; Katarina Srebotnik (SLO) bt Jill Craybas (USA) 7-6 (10/8), 6-3; Daniela Hantuchova (SVK) bt Jelena Jankovic (SCG) 2-6, 6-4, 6-4; Maria Kirilenko (RUS) bt Mara Santangelo (ITA) 6-4, 6-1; Ana Ivanovic (SCG bt Ai Sugiyama (JPN) 6-3, 6-0; Marion Bartoli (FRA) bt Tatiana Golovin (FRA) 6-3, 6-0; Saori Obata (JPN) bt Kveta Peschke (CZE) 6-2, 6-1.—AFP