Ana Ivanovic defeats Elena Dementieva in Beijing
There are days when you remember that, not so long ago, Ana Ivanovic was a Grand Slam champion and the world’s No. 1 ranked player.
Today’s 7-6(2), 7-6(4)win in her third round clash with Elena Dementieva at the China Open in Beijing was one of them.
The good news for Ivanovic fans too is that those days have become just that bit more frequent in recent times, as the Serb emerges from a protracted form slump.
Today’s win over the world No. 9 will likely see Ivanovic return to the top-30, and may just have once again established her as a force to be reckoned with on the WTA Tour.
What Ivanovic showed against the seventh seed today – aside from an ability to match and better Dementieva with some punishing groundstrokes – was that old aggression and self-belief that took her to the French Open title in 2008.
The world No. 36 produced 30 winners for the match compared to Dementieva’s 16 as she turned back the clock a couple of years and implemented a successful risk and reward strategy for the match.
Perhaps most impressively, where Ivanovic may have crumbled in the clinches in recent times, she held strong today against the Russian, taking the first set in a tiebreak and saving set point in the second with a forehand winner.
Once again in the second set tiebreak it was Ivanovic who held her nerve, serving strongly and booking a place in the quarter-finals, where she’ll face the winner of the match between world No. 2 (though perhaps not for too much longer) Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova.
Earlier in the day, Na Li blitzed Angelique Kerber 6-2, 6-0 to take her place in the final eight where she’ll play qualifier Anastasija Sevastova – who received a free pass to the quarters after Nadia Petrova withdrew from their third round match due to a foot injury.
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