Nigel Sears back for Ana Ivanovic win

Omnisports

February 10, 2016 1:08 AM

A day after becoming a grandad, Nigel Sears returned to courtside to see Ana Ivanovic win her St Petersburg Ladies Trophy opener.

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There was double joy for Ana Ivanovic on Wednesday as she defeated Margarita Gasparyan to reach the quarter-finals of the St Petersburg Ladies Trophy, while her coach Nigel Sears was back courtside 18 days after he collapsed at the Australian Open.

Sears, whose daughter Kim and husband Andy Murray welcomed their first child this week, was rushed to hospital after collapsing in the stands during Ivanovic's third-round defeat to Madison Keys in Melbourne.

However, he returned to the practice courts with the Serb earlier this week and was in attendance as the fourth seed - who was given a bye in round one - saw off Russia's Gasparyan 7-5 6-2.

Asked about Sears after the match, Ivanovic said: "I think he was happy running on the court so I think he's alright."

Second seed Roberta Vinci is also through to the last eight after defeating Yanina Wickmayer 6-2 7-6 (7-2).

Wickmayer had defeated defending champion Jelena Ostapenko in round one, but Vinci - a runner-up at last year's US Open - proved too big a challenge.

In round one, seventh seed Kristina Mladenovic suffered a surprise 1-6 7-5 6-1 defeat to lucky loser Laura Siegemund, who is ranked 57 placed below her opponent.

Patricia Maria Tig, runner-up 12 months ago, was another lucky loser but she surrendered a one-set lead in a 3-6 6-3 6-1 loss to wildcard Elena Vesnina.

Dominika Cibulkova comfortably beat Evgeniya Rodina 6-3 6-0, while Annika Beck and Daria Kasatkina needed three sets to overcome Lucie Hradecka and Kirsten Flipkens respectively.

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