There can be little doubt that so far 2008 is Ana Ivanovic's year. Having reached both Grand Slam finals, she rectified the defeat in Australia by claiming the French Open crown and securing the world No1 spot in the process.

The Serbian's stunning looks and almost angelic demeanour on court put her at the forefront of the feminine marketing revolution currently being pushed by the WTA Tour.

But yesterday on Court One, the 'Balkan Beauty' had to discover the beast within to claw her way past Nathalie Dechy of France and avoid a premature end to her first Grand Slam tournament as top seed.

Ivanovic may have let nerves and inexperience manifest itself in inconsistency against Maria Sharapova in Melbourne at the beginning of the year, but her first major title seems to have instilled a steely resolve not usually associated with such an aesthetically pleasing player. Russian stunner Anna Kournikova had every shot in the book and was a powerful serve away from becoming a major contender at the big tournaments but she lacked the work ethic, found a pop star to latch on to and the catwalk beckoned for an easy life.

But Ivanovic, like Sharapova, is made of sterner stuff and although wildly erratic, particularly on the backhand side, winning the mental battle against a player she always had the game to beat was perhaps her biggest accomplishment at SW19 yesterday.

"What helped me win was fighting spirit," she said afterwards, having switched back into her effortlessly likeable off-court demeanour. "She was playing extremely well and I was making some unforced errors that I wasn't doing in my previous match. I just had to try and hang in there and look for my opportunities. That's something I am very happy I could do because sometimes you have days when it is much easier to control emotions and to deal with different situations.

"Just being able to go through this, also as a learning experience, makes me feel good."

It must be frightening for the rest of the top women to realise that Ivanovic has much to improve. Although her serve could do with 5-10mph more bite, she has all the shots. But her insistence on being relentlessly aggressive when a little more patience would pay dividends is a shortcoming.

Ivanovic hit a staggering 72 winners - more than any number hit by a player in the women's draw yesterday - but these were punctuated by 36 unforced errors as she looked to shorten the points in an attempt to hit through her troubles.

Such an approach is admirable but it hints at a lack of composure when under pressure - guile and accuracy are useful-weapons against an opponent clearly playing as consistently as Dechy was.

At three hours and 24 minutes, yesterday's Court One marathon was just 21 minutes short of the longest women's match at Wimbledon and Ivanovic admitted the unusual match length caused her mind to wander - not something you would associate with a hardened champion such as Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal.

"It's hard because you can't keep your focus and your mental toughness for the whole time," she said." Concentration goes up and down. So you have to be in a moment, to think of breathing.

"Obviously there are moments when you lose a little bit yourself and you start thinking about some random things out of everyday life, what's happening that's nothing to do with tennis.

"So you realise that and go back in the moment and what's happening on the court, I feel like I have to work really hard."

That level of effort could not be faulted and the old adage that you earn your luck certainly applied to Ivanovic yesterday.

At match point down in the second set yesterday a forehand approach shot looked destined for the net before it hit the tape and appeared to roll up and trickle over. Dechy could be forgiven for thinking she had won and Ivanovic hid her face in her visor as she dealt with a mixture of embarrassment and disbelief at her good fortune.

"Someone from upstairs made the ball roll over," she said, grinning inanely. "I just feel so lucky. Now for me, every match I play, I have nothing to lose."

But it is hard to be too negative about such an amiable character who ultimately found the wherewithal to come through but it was understandable that Dechy was left to rue what might have been.

At the end of the match, Ivanovic kissed the part of the net that had given her a lifeline and Dechy said: "I saw her kiss the net. The net deserved it." That may be true, but so did Ivanovic, who proved she has the commitment to improvement to prove that not only was her Roland Garros victory no fluke but that she can be the beauty and the beast all rolled into one.