Serbia’s tennis darling, Ana Ivanovic, christened the first night session at Pat Rafter Arena in fine fashion when she disposed of 18-year-old Czech Petra Kvitova 6-4 6-2 to move into the second round of the inaugural Brisbane International.

The high-pitched grunts that have become synonymous with women’s tennis were replaced with reverent “ooohs” and “aaaahs” from an appreciative, if slightly disappointing, crowd of 2801 fans, who couldn’t plug the obvious gaps in the wonderful 5500-seat stadium.

Still, they were energetic and enthusiastic, pivoting their heads like ping-pong ball clowns at The Ekka, as top seed and world number five Ivanovic and 48th-ranked Kvitova slugged it out for their viewing pleasure.

In a subtle nod to the man from whom the court takes its name, Ivanovic even threw in some wonky ball tosses as the summer breezes swirled around the playing surface. All that was missing was a Serbian spin on: “Sorry mate.”

After the match, she confessed to having Rafter’s famous apology, which he uttered to his opponent after every errant throw, on loop in her head each time a ball toss went astray.

“I was thinking about that actually and I was like: “No, no, no… focus on the match!” Ivanovic said following her victory.

“You want to have a perfect ball toss so you can do the best serve you possibly can. Sometimes the ball isn’t perfect so you have to stop. I had the chance to talk to Pat Rafter about it and he said, ‘Don’t worry, just catch the ball and start again’.”

Earlier in the day the 21-year-old tournament drawcard, whose glowing tan looks like her practice court is located on the deck of an Aegean cruise ship, attracted an excited gaggle of followers as she made her way to the outside courts to warm-up.

Fans of all ages trailed her golf cart like ducklings scurrying frantically after their mother. When the Australian Open runner-up finally made it onto the court for her 7pm date with Kvitova, a lanky southpaw with a streaky forehand, her reception was no less lively.