“Today I was ready from the start,” said Jankovic, who blamed last year’s campaign on over-training and niggling injuries and doubts. “I went out there knowing my game plan, what I needed to do. I wanted to be really aggressive, but at the same time patient and not really go for too much. I waited for my opportunities and when I had them, I took them.”

So which Melanie Oudin is it, the “fearless” youngster who made a run to the US Open quarterfinals, or the one who collapsed in a tight 6-0 third-set loss in the first round at Indian Wells?…

Where did wildcard Justine Henin land? In the third quarter, opening against Slovak Maggie Rybarikova. Also in her path: No. 31 Gisela Dulko, No. 5 Radwanska, No. 11 Bartoli, then probably No. 4 Dementieva to reach the semis. Radwanska will have a tough opener against either Anna Chakvetadze or Anne Keothavong after a bye.

Williams will now take a three-week break from the tour as she is not in the draw at Monterrey, Mexico this week, and annually skips the two-week Indian Wells event since 2001 when her sister and father branded the event and California fans racists after they booed the sisters when Venus defaulted five minutes prior to a scheduled semifinal match against Serena, and booed Serena in the final. The sisters’ father, Richard, says he heard racists comments during the final.

HENIN TAKES STAR POWER TO BELGIAN TELEVISION — Former No. 1-ranked Justine Henin will be hosting two television shows in Belgium according to the Belgian newspaper Le Soir: one, titled “De twaalf werken van Justine Henin” (The Twelve Works of Justine Henin) will feature her taking on sports, cooking, fashion, etc., challenges. The other will be a music-themed show…

“I don’t feel like I’m that disappointed just now with how the week went, because I wasn’t expecting to do that well,” said Murray, who was coming off an illness. “I obviously had some very good wins. I got a lot of the matches that I wasn’t necessarily expecting, so going into Miami I’m going to be better prepared than I thought…I’m guessing I’m not going to play in those conditions each week.”

The loss was another jolt to the confidence of Ivanovic, who achieved the No. 1 ranking last year but then fell down the rankings with a combination of injuries and failing confidence.

“He’s a great counterpuncher and reads the game really well,” Federer said of Murray. “He has great feel. So he’s very confident at the moment. You can tell, the way he plays. He knows he doesn’t have to play close to the lines because he can cover the court really well. I think that calms him down mentally. I think that is why he’s playing so well.”

“I don’t think he had his best day by any means,” Roddick told reporters. “I mixed up the pace pretty well and the chip was a pretty good neutralizing shot for me. I was hitting it pretty firm and I didn’t really miss any returns. I thought I played pretty well.”

“I’m aware he has beaten me more than I’ve beaten him but, on big occasions, I think I came through,” Federer told reporters. “I have to build on that and make sure I play a tough and good match against him. Anything else is not going to do the job.”