Ana Ivanovic stoops to Venus Williams in the fourth round – Sony Ericsson Open 2012
Serb beauty starlet, Ana Ivanovic, had her last match at the Sony Ericsson Open on Monday against the former world number one, Venus Williams. She departed from Miami in the fourth round after facing a gruelling three-setter defeat
with scores of 7-6(4), 2-6, 2-6.
Williams is on the roar after returning from a chronic disease that forced her to stay out of action since the last US Open. She was ecstatic to register yet another thumping triumph against her fellow former world number at the
hard courts in USA. It seems like her home soil is treating her pretty well and she is still competent at the age of 31.
These players have played as many as nine encounters including this between themselves. Ironically, the Serb has just won one battle and that was way back in 2008 during the quarter-final of the Australian Open in Melbourne. Apart
from that she has faced loses in Swisscom Challenge 2004, FORTIS Championships 2006, Wimbledon 2007, US Open 2007, Zurich 2008, Wimbledon 2009 and AEGON International 2011.
Ivanovic started in dismal fashion having dropped the opening serve game of the match but she did well to bounce back with a breakthrough in the sixth game that levelled the scores at 3-3. No more drama was witnessed in the arena
during the first set proceedings and players entered the tie-breaker round to decide the set.
It was the visitor who took charge of the proceedings and grabbed crucial mini-breaks to name the opening set. Trailing one set down, Williams marked a remarkable comeback in the following set breaking serve twice on the trot towards
the ending stages to level the set scores at one apiece and sending the strong message to the Serb that she is not going to bow down easily.
A repeat of the second set was witnessed in the final battle. Both players held their serves in the first five games before the American contestant broke serve twice at the end to finish off the resistance and progress into the
quarter-final of the tournament.
In a post-match interview, the winner stated, “Ana played so well in the first set. She was really on her game. Every ball was falling in for her, and every challenge was going her way too - but I figured if I just hung in there,
I could find an opening.”
She will be facing the fourth ranked Pole, Agnieszka Radwanska, in the next round.
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