Ivanovic downs Gasparyan in St Petersburg

St Petersburg - Ana Ivanovic powered into the quarter-finals of the St. Petersburg Ladies Trophy as her Russian opponent Margarita Gasparyan crumbled on Wednesday.

Ivanovic, seeded fourth, was 2-0 down in the second set before winning the next six games to take the match 7-5, 6-2. Gasparyan had three break points on Ivanovic's serve at 2-2 but failed to take advantage, became frustrated, and never recovered.

"I really had to dig deep," Ivanovic said. "I'm really happy with the way I played today, especially in my first match."

Ivanovic, who had a bye in the first round, will face either Russia's Elena Vesnina or Ukrainian Kateryna Kozlova in the quarterfinals.

The seventh-seeded Kristina Mladenovic of France lost in the first round after a two-hour fight with Laura Siegemund of Germany.

Siegemund, who made the main draw as a lucky loser, took the initiative in the second set against Mladenovic to win 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.

Siegemund faces promising young Russian Darya Kasatkina in the second round after she beat Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-4, 5-7, 6-4