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.
US national team star Folarin Balogun was among the scorers as AS Monaco on Friday won 3-1 at Paris Saint-Germain, dealing a blow to the side from the French capital before they face Chelsea in a crunch UEFA Champions League round-of-16 tie. Maghnes Akliouche gave Monaco a first-half lead at the Parc des Princes, and Aleksandr Golovin doubled their advantage early in the second half of the French Ligue 1 clash. Bradley Barcola pulled one back for the reigning European champions, but Balogun struck shortly after with a fifth goal in his last five games as Monaco claimed a precious
Teenage star Lamine Yamal’s superbly-taken goal on Saturday earned Barcelona a 1-0 win at Athletic Bilbao in Spanish La Liga. The champions restored their four-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid, who had on Friday temporarily closed the gap by beating Celta Vigo. Atletico Madrid tightened their grip on third with an entertaining 3-2 win over Real Sociedad. Yamal, 18, curled into the top corner after 68 minutes to split the sides at Athletic’s San Mames stadium. “We’re already seeing what Lamine can do — he puts it right in the top corner, and there’s nothing the keeper can do,” Barca
Liverpool on Tuesday suffered an embarrassing 2-1 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers as Andre’s stoppage-time strike sealed a dramatic victory for the English Premier League’s bottom club. Arne Slot’s side fell behind to Rodrigo Gomes’ strike in the closing stages at Molineux. Mohamed Salah hauled Liverpool level with his first goal in 11 top-flight games dating back to November last year. However, Andre’s first goal for Wolves inflicted the latest humbling loss in a chastening season for Liverpool. It was the first time the Premier League’s bottom club had beaten the reigning champions since Crystal Palace defeated Chelsea in 2017. Liverpool
Taiwan yesterday defeated the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks’ farm team 5-1 in their final warm-up game ahead of their World Baseball Classic (WBC) Pool C opener. Taiwan’s bullpen used an unconventional rotation, with a different pitcher throwing each inning for the first seven innings. Together, they combined for eight strikeouts while allowing only four hits. The lone run surrendered came in the bottom of the eighth inning after a pitcher from Japan’s independent league took the mound. The pitching strategy was designed to preserve the arms of the Taiwanese ahead of their game against Australia at the Tokyo Dome tomorrow morning. Taiwanese-American Stuart Fairchild
RSS