Ana Ivanovic of Serbia hit 31 winners, including 23 off her powerful forehand, to beat Russia's Nadia Petrova 7-5, 6-4 to win the East West Bank Classic on Sunday.
Ivanovic completed a big day for Serbian tennis by winning her second tournament of the year. Fellow Serb Novak Djokovic upset world No. 1 Roger Federer in three sets to win the Rogers Cup title in Montreal.
"I saw some of his match," she said. "He played amazing tennis, so I was motivated to do the same thing."
PHOTO: AP
Ivanovic and Djokovic have been friends for about 14 years. They met as 4-year-olds at his parents' mountaintop restaurant in Belgrade. Growing up, they practiced together and played hide and seek.
"I hated when I had to search for him because I was scared," she said. "We never dreamed we could play Grand Slams at the same level. It's nice to know someone for so long. I love spending time with him."
That includes sharing dinner when their tournament paths cross, but there is no romance going on.
"We are really good friends, nothing more than that," she said.
A year ago, Ivanovic was ranked 19th. Yesterday, she was projected to rise one spot to a career-high fourth in the WTA Tour rankings. In between, the 19-year-old was the runner-up at the French Open and a semi-finalist at Wimbledon this year.
Ivanovic closed out the one-and-a-half-hour match by serving a love game, punctuated by an ace into the outside corner of the service box, one of four she had. She was broken just once after saving four break points in her first service game of the match.
She took the first set with a crosscourt forehand winner that was out of Petrova's reach.
Ivanovic led 4-2 in the second set before Petrova's forehand volley winner left the Russian trailing 5-4. Petrova hit 19 winners in the match, which were offset by 22 unforced errors.
Ivanovic dropped one set in five matches in Carson -- against Serb rival Jelena Jankovic in the semi-finals.
Petrova's coach had advised the 25-year-old Russian to pull Ivanovic wide by hitting to her backhand, making it harder for the Serb to hit her forehand on the run.
It didn't work.
"She just rips it off without even thinking," Petrova said. "Sometimes I think she didn't even know where it was going. It's the best forehand by far on tour."
Petrova advanced to the final when top-seeded Maria Sharapova defaulted because of a lower left leg strain on Saturday night.
Petrova, ranked ninth in the world, hasn't won a title since February.
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
RSS