Ana Ivanovic, who suffured a major slump in the rankings on Monday, falling from No.8 to No.13 after exiting the French Open in the fourth round as a defending champion, is scheduled to play doubles at the AEGON International.

The 21-year-old has been offered a wildcard into the Eastbourne doubles draw, and will be partnered with Germany's Sabine Lisicki, ranked 180th in doubles.

Ivanovic hasn't played a single doubles match on the Tour since last year, during which she played only one, and is currently unranked in doubles. Her career-high doubles ranking was No.50, in Septermber 2006, after having played several tournaments alongside Russian Maria Kirilenko.

The AEGON International starts June 15. (source: Ana Ivanovic's official website, photo: Ralf Reinecke)

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic was quickly defeated by Victoria Azarenka in the fourth round of Roland Garros.

The ninth-seeded Azarenka stormed through the first set, breaking the eighth-seeded Ivanovic in the third and seventh games, and the Belorussian continued the trend up until leading 4-0 in the second set by winning seven games in a row. Then Ivanovic gave some resistance, but all her tries were short lived and she said goodbye on Azarenka’s first match point.

Azarenka's next opponent will be top seed Dinara Safina, who is still on fire, losing just one game to Aravane Rezai to advance to the last eight. Can it be more impressive? The last year’s finalist Safina lost only five games en route to the quarterfinals. (photo: Stephane Martinache)

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic beat seed No.32 Iveta Benesova of the Czech Republic 6-0 6-2 to advance to the fourth round of the French Open.

The eighth-seeded Serb was taken to a tiebreaker in the first set she played at this year’s Roland Garros, but since then she has lost only eight games.

Ivanovic will play either ninth seed Victoria Azarenka or 22nd-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro in the fourth round. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The 2008 French Open champion Ana Ivanovic advanced to the second round of this year’s event with a 7-6(3) 6-3 victory over Italy’s Sara Errani.

The 44th-ranked Errani had a chance to serve for the first set in the tenth game at 5-4, even though Ivanovic had had a 3-1 lead, but the world No.8 Ivanovic didn’t allow that to happen, and took the set in the tiebreak.

The Serb, with her knee still taped, then dominated in the second set, surging into a 5-1 lead. She suffered a slight blip when Errani clawed one break back in the eighth game, but the champion eventually clinched victory.

The 21-year-old Ivanovic will play either Thai veteran Tamarine Tanasugarn or Camille Pin of France in the second round of Roland Garros. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The draw for the 2009 French Open is out and here’s my analysis of contenders. I would just like to mention that despite all the facts, I'm sure we all deep inside feel that the women’s field is wide open.

Dinara Safina is my top favorite to win the title. She is coming to Paris with back-to-back titles in Rome and Madrid, plus the Stuttgart final before that (and all the three tournaments mentioned are played on clay). And not only that, the world No.1 Safina was last year’s runner up at the French Open.

The Russian is in impressive form, but she shouldn’t give herself the luxury of making matches longer than they should be (although she’s great at coming back from behind), in order to be fully fit as long as it takes to claim her first Grand Slam.

The first opponent at the French Open won’t be easy for Safina, as she’s meeting Anne Keothavong who reached the semifinals of this week’s Warsaw Open. Other big names such as Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Alisa Kleybanova, Zheng Jie, Victoria Azarenka, Carla Suarez Navarro and defending champion Ana Ivanovic are also in her quarter.

Serena Williams still hasn’t won a singles match on clay this season. The world No.2 dropped openers of Marbella, Rome and Madrid, and hence it’s hard to put her as the favorite. However, knowing her impressive resume which includes the 2002 French Open title, and her ability to show her best at majors, the younger Williams sister can never be written off.

To make things more interesting, Serena Williams is playing Klara Zakopalova in the first round, the player she lost to in Marbella in April. Serena is looking at another potential tough match in the fourth round against Flavia Pennetta.

Venus Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, and although she has never been victorious at Roland Garros, she played the final in 2002, and just like her sister Serena, she’s a threat anywhere and anytime.

Williams is the top seed in her quarter of the draw. Her first-round opponent will be fellow American Bethanie Mattek-Sands. In the second round Williams could meet Sabine Lisicki, who beat her en route to the title in Charleston last month. Read more »