Ana takes on American Vania King in the third round of the Australian Open on Saturday. Ana is yet to drop a set en route to round three and, uniquely among the top players, has not even faced a break point.
The 21st seed has a 3-0 head-to-head record against King, with all the previous contests taking place on hard courts. In fact, their first meeting came at the 2007 Australian Open, when Ana eased to a 6-2, 6-0 victory. Their last meeting took place in Los Angeles in August 2009, with Ana triumphing in three sets.
King, who is ranked 66th, reached round three with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 upset victory over Russian 15th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova. The 22-year-old has never reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam event, losing all three of her previous third round encounters in straight sets.
She has, however, beaten the likes of top-ranked players Samantha Stosur, Dominika Cibulova and Marion Bartoli, and the win over Pavlyuchenkova ranks among the finest of her career.
Ana is looking forward to the challenge, and hopefully building on her first two matches. She said: "I enjoy playing here. The last couple of matches have been really lots of fun. It's been good to also apply things I worked on in off season.
"There are no easy matches. Next round again is going to be a tough one. But I feel like I'm getting into the tournament. It's nice to get some wins and be in contention to play against top players."
Ana is happy with the progress she is making under coach Nigel Sears, as exemplified in her 6-2, 6-3 win over Michaella Krajicek in round two. "I worked a lot on my game in the off season," she explained.
"When I'm out there I really know what I have to do and I stay with it. I'm more persistent and confident in that because I know that's what's going to give me results and help me to play better.
"It might not work on a given day and I try to adjust. In the long run, in the big picture, that's what's going to get me back to the top."
