Ana Ivanovic reigns supreme over Daniela Hantuchova in round three - Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Beauty queens of tennis world, Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova, wore the same adidas orange dress on Sunday during the third round clash of the Sony Ericsson Open. A straight sets 6-2, 7-6 (2), triumph was all mixed up for the fans who were recognizing the players from their hair colour and grunts because apparently they looked similar.
A stunning performance of an hour and 39 minutes was summarized by the Serb former world number one in following words during the post-match interview, “Daniela and I have played a lot of times in the past. Even in practice it's always tight. I played really well in the first set.”
She further added, “I think I started to rush a little more in the second - I started wanting to close out the match and wanted to rush and rush. I was focused more on the end than staying in the moment. But I'm really happy I managed to keep composed and then win the tie-breaker. It was a very, very important win for me today."
It was their seventh face-off and the Slovak beauty queen had just won a couple of them. However, one of those two were in the previous head-to-head battle in Birmingham last year. It was expected to be a taxing three-setter and almost turned out one before the Slovak blonde was ousted in the tie-breaker of the second set by the 15th ranked Serb.
The first set witnessed four breakpoints shared in the ratio of 3:1 for the Serb beauty queen. Ivanovic grabbed the set by winning 27 points in total and allowed just 18 points to her opponent. She created five opportunities to break serve and converted three off them. Hantuchova could only generate a single opportunity that was successfully translated into a breakthrough. It was the main difference in the whole set.
Ivanovic led the second set with a breakpoint in the seventh game but was broken in the following game that tied the scores at 4-4. The set was slipping from her hands but tight serve holds did the trick for her. She hanged on to enforce a tie-breaker and jumped on her toes after winning the final point of the match.
Next up for the Serb sweet voiced tennis icon is another former world number one, Venus Williams of America, who is also making a comeback after a major injury lay-off. It must be another eye-startling battle between the two former number one athletes.
Tags: