Ana Ivanovic, Mirjana Lucic make it into to the last eight - AEGON Classic 2011
Former world number one Ana Ivanovic crushed Canadian tennis player Rebecca Marino 6-3, 6-2 to march into the quarterfinal of 2011 AEGON Classic here in Birmingham. Making a confident start to the contest, the highest remaining
seed smashed her lovely forehand and backhand winners all over the court making her rival run for her money.
Playing a very controlled game, Ivanovic looked to attack her opponent right from the word “go”. She broke the serve in seventh of the opening set to earn an impassable 5-2 lead. Holding on to her next serve game without any trouble
what so ever, she pocketed the set 6-3. Marino missed timed her shots on a number of occasions as she failed to create any break chances.
The second set also followed a similar pattern with Ivanovic exerting more pressure on the Canadian to force errors. Breaking the serve twice in the set, the Serb established complete control over the situation. Hitting a big return
on Marino’s serve, she made two match points available to her and then converted the first one to seal an emphatic victory.
"I just focused on my own serve, and on her second serve I stepped in and was aggressive. I felt good out there. I just kept thinking positively and tried to perform the best I could.", said Ivanovic.
Ranked 19th in the world, Ivanovic has been struggling to find her form since the start of the year 2011. It’s been more than seven months now since she last won a Women’s Tennis Association title. Ousted in the first
round of 2011 French Open by Swede Johanna Larsson, Ivanovic has started the grass court season with high ambitions. Dropping only six games in her two matches at the Edgbaston Prior Club, the 23-year-old will be hoping to lift her first WTA trophy of the
season by bringing more consistency into her game.
Former ‘90s teen queen Mirjana Lucic also booked her place in the last eight of WTA tournament with a thumping 6-2, 7-6 (4) victory over Czech Andrea Hlavackova on Thursday.
This is only the second quarterfinal appearance in the last decade for the world number 94. Having shown her skills on the green surface, the Czech tennis-pro will be looking to clinch her third title in the women’s singles. However
to yield similar results, she must bring more variety in her game. Lucic leaked four double faults and managed to hit only 54 percent of her first serves, an area of her game that needs definite improvement.
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