Ivanovic, Safina advance to final
PARIS – She’s No. 1, guaranteed to replace Maria Sharapova at the top of the women’s rankings Monday, but that’s not enough for Ana Ivanovic. She wants a Grand Slam title to complete her fantasy fortnight.
Russian vs. Russian in one semifinal. Serbian vs. Serbian in the other. And a combined 3 hours and 42 minutes of tennis Thursday left Ivanovic and surprise survivor Dinara Safina in the final of the women’s French Open.
They’ll take today off, then settle the championship on Saturday.
For Ivanovic, this is a second bite of a tournament many thought she could have won in 2007 before she nervously dissolved into a pudding, a 19-year-old overwhelmed by the occasion who lost badly to Justine Henin in the final.
For Safina, it’s the culmination of weeks of hard work in an effort to finally exact the potential that she had left unexploited for years.
The two matches bore little resemblance to each other.
Ivanovic’s 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 win over Jelena Jankovic was filled with long, arduous rallies with both women using every quarter of the court and mixing low, zinging drives with deft drop shots and displaying great defense. It was high quality tennis.
Safina’s 6-3, 6-2 conquest of Svetlana Kuznetsova, meanwhile, was an artistic disaster. Or, as the favored Kuznetsova said, quite accurately: “It was pretty horrible.” Only once did Kuznetsova, the sturdily built No. 4 player in the world, look as if she might reverse Safina’s momentum. But when she had a major opportunity to turn the match in the crucial sixth game of the second set, she failed, and Safina seized a 4-2 lead and the final push she needed to win.
It was Safina’s service returning that was the most important factor in her win.
French Open
A look at Thursday’s play:
Women’s semifinals: No. 13 Dinara Safina of Russia def. No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia 6-3, 6-2; No. 2 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia def. No. 3 Jelena Jankovic of Serbia 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
Men’s semifinals today: No. 1 Roger Federer of Switzerland vs. Gael Monfils of France; No. 2 Rafael Nadal of Spain vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic of Serbia.