Caroline Wozniacki battles past Ana Ivanovic to progress into semis – Dubai Championships 2012
Clash of the former World Number ones, Caroline Wozniacki and Ana Ivanovic, was ousted by the Dane who defeated the Serb in straight sets 6-3, 7-5 in the quarter-final of the Dubai Duty Free Championships. On Thursday, the third seed Dane took an hour and
33 minutes to power down the Serb who fought well throughout the match.
It was the fourth clash between the two titans and now the head-to-head scores are levelled 2-2 with Ivanovic losing the recent two matches including the quarter-final battle of the China Open 2010. Ivanovic registered both her triumphs in 2008; first during
the Australian Open fourth round and second in the third round of the French Open.
The match started with a serve hold at either end before the Dane broke serve in the fourth game and took the lead of 3-1. A swap of breakpoints kept her lead intact with scores ticking over 4-2. The Serb was trying extremely hard to fight back in the contest
but the defending Champion survived all the blows and marched on with a set lead.
Ivanovic started the second set with a serve hold and so did her opponent. Wozniacki once again broke serve and took a lead of 3-1 in the second set as well. It was getting pretty ominous for the Serb who was unable to capitalise on her serves.
The Serb was failing to grab hold of her first serves and was missing on most of the occasions. It forced her to slow the pace on her second serves that made it easier for the Dane to manoeuvre the returns at her will. However, Ivanovic broke serve in the
sixth game to level the score 3-3.
After that it was all about winning breakpoints. Five breakthroughs were played in succession with the Dane leading them in a ratio of 3:2. Finally the third seed dropped just one point on her serve and registered a cracking triumph over the Serb. It was
a classic battle and scores does not justify the intensity of the game play at the middle of the court.
Wozniacki praised her opponent’s fight and said, “Ana really stepped it up in the second set, and took the balls very early and just played really well, actually. She took her chances and had nothing to lose. I'm happy to have hung in there. I think the
first set wasn't the best tennis from either of us, but I came out on top, which was great. I already had that first set in my pocket, so it was easier to play afterwards.”
Caroline is just two steps away from a successful title defence; on her way is the German diva, Julia Goerges, who will face her in the semi-finals.
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