Ana Ivanovic earned a showdown with Kim Clijsters in the Cincinnati Open semi-finals after progressing along with Russian teenager Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Maria Sharapova on Friday.
Serbian former world No. 1 Ivanovic, looking in-form and confident, comfortably defeated Uzbek qualifier Akgul Amanmuradova 6-1, 6-3 to reach her second semi-final of the year.
The unseeded Ivanovic, who reached the last four in the Italian Open in Rome, won 22 of 24 first service points and looked composed throughout.
PHOTO: AFP
“I think it has to do with confidence. You know, once you feel confident that you’ve got a game out there and you’ve got tools, you can fall back on those,” she said.
“At the moment, I feel if my forehand isn’t working, I can fall back on something else; if that’s not working I can fall back on my movement, and just trying to get to the balls and somehow get them back,” the Serb said.
Clijsters, who is preparing to defend her US Open crown later this month, was pushed all the way by 11th seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta before clinching a 7-6, 6-4 victory.
Clijsters, who launched her comeback at this event last year, made 39 unforced errors and conceded she was not at her best.
“The errors are there because I still don’t feel that everything is going naturally they way that I would want it to go. I’m really just trying to work for each point,” she said.
Sharapova had little to worry about in her defeat of France’s Marion Bartoli, with the Russian producing a blistering service game, winning 29 of 30 first serve points and smashing nine aces in her 6-1, 6-4 victory.
The three-times Grand Slam winner will face a tough semi-final after Pavlyuchenkova displayed the temperament of a veteran to beat Belgian 12th seed Yanina Wickmayer 7-5, 3-6, 6-1.
She was 5-1 down in the first set, but saved three set points to rally back superbly, winning six successive games.
Wickmayer, who later said she had felt weak in her legs and drained in the midday heat, called for the courtside doctor when she was 6-5 down.
There was an almost identical start to the second with Wickmayer going 5-0 up, before Pavlyuchenkova again battled back though the Belgian forced it into a decider.
Buoyed by her spirited resilience, the 19-year-old Russian powered through the third to take her place in the last four.
The teenager never doubted her ability to come back against Wickmayer, even when trailing 5-1 in the opening set.
“I guess I have always been like that since I was a little girl,” she said.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
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
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
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,
RSS