Serbian tennis star through to Indian Wells quarter-finals
Ivanovic late wake-up call
Author: Z. Kecman | 19.03.2009 - 08:41
Ana Ivanovic has survived the fourth round of the combined tennis event in
Indian Wells against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta. The holding champion of the
$9-million tournament was forced to play three tight sets in order to ensure a
hard-fought 6-4 4-6 6-4 win after 125 minutes of play. Ivanovic meets Sybille
Bammer of Austria in the quarter-finals.
The clash between Ivanovic and Pennetta was marked by an unusually high number
of breaks – as many as fifteen – while Ana managed to come just on top having
snatched eight of Pennetta’s serve games and dropped seven of her own.
Ivanovic was more convincing out of the blocks, taking a 4-0 lead in the
opening set, but Pennetta bounced back to narrow the gap to 4-3. The remaining
three games were all dropped by the server, as Ivanovic claimed the narrow
first set 6-4.
Pennetta was on top in the second, having come to a 3-0 lead straight away. The
Italian then managed to clinch the set 6-4 and level the overall score. Ana
took the initiative in the decider, led 2-0 and 4-1, but Pennetta responded to
close the gap at 4-4. The Serb then held her serve and Pennetta couldn’t cope
with the pressure in the following game, meaning Ana’s eighth break of the
match was enough to win the final set 6-4 and the match.
- “I’m very happy to get through,” said a visibly delighted Ana. “I started
off very well but I lost my rhythm and she put a lot of pressure on me. In the
end I’m just very happy I was able to come up with the shots when it mattered.
Considering the late finish I’m happy to have a day off tomorrow!,” said the
world’s number seven.
Ivanovic’s next opponent – Sybille Bammer – will surely be a more formidable
obstacle. The Austrian cruised into the quarter-finals without dropping a
single set in the tournament so far. Moreover, Ivanovic has already lost once
to Bammer – at the 2007 edition of Indian Wells. Bammer disposed of Daniela
Hantuchova 6-3 6-2 and seems to be on a positive run of form in California.
Novak Djokovic played his own fourth-round tie late last night against
Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, but the day before he had to shrug off the
challenge of Tommy Haas, once an ATP No. 2, in 2002.
Novak is raising his game as the tournament progresses and looks like he is on
the path of restoring his top form. The Serbian number one was impressive in
the first set against Haas, and won it 6-2. The German was furious with himself
and even smashed and broke his racquet in protest, for which he was penalized
with a point awarded to Djokovic. Despite the nervy patch, Haas composed
himself enough to take the second set into the tie-breaker. Djokovic came out
strong in the final game of the set and took the tie-breaker in style.
- “I’m still searching for the right rhythm and I don’t want to overburden
myself. I think I’m playing quite well at the moment, and I’m focusing on
maintaining as much energy as possible for the latter stages of the tournament,
not underestimating my opponents and taking it step by step,” said Novak.
Meanwhile, Serbia’s Viktor Troicki failed to repeat the fine performance he
displayed in the third round against Tomas Berdych and lost his fourth-round
clash against David Nalbandian in straight sets – 6-4 6-2.
Troicki served very convincingly in the opening set, with ten aces as opposed
to no reply from the Argentinean. However, the key points – especially those
in the tenth game while losing 5-4 – went Nalbandian’s way. The psychological
meltdown was obvious in the second set, as Nalbandian dictated the pace of the
game and took cruised to win. The Argentinean No. 14 seed at Indian Wells faces
the world’s number one Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals.
http://www.blic.rs/sports.php?id=4085
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