Ivanovic one win from Clijsters clash at US Open
The unseeded Ana Ivanovic and defending champion Kim Clijsters are each just one win away from a fourth-round clash of the former world No. 1s at the US Open. Here we preview their third-round matches.
Ana Ivanovic vs Virginie Razzano
“I feel like I'm playing like a top-10 player, you know, and I have confidence that I can beat these players. That's huge for me,” said Ivanovic after dispatching 21st seed Jie Zheng 6-3, 6-0 in her second-round match.
That sort of statement has been a long time coming for the former world No. 1 who has spent most of the past two seasons searching for lost form, confidence, and the ball as she’s struggled on serve with her wayward ball toss.
Now ranked as the world No. 40, Ivanovic arrived in Flushing Meadows having reached the semi-finals in Cincinnati in August, but also having spent the final part of her US Open preparations nursing a foot injury sustained in the match.
That setback just as we started to see a glimpse of the Ivanovic of old in Ohio doesn’t seem to have any impact on Ivanovic in New York. In fact, it’s hard to name a player in the women’s draw who has played a more convincing opening two rounds of the tournament.
Ivanovic’s powerful forehand has been firing and her confidence is high as she heads into a third-round match against Virginie Razzano, a player who already has one upset under her belt at the US Open having defeated 13th seed Marion Bartoli in her second round match.
It was a much-needed win for Razzano, who ended 2009 ranked inside the top-20 but whose ranking has since spiralled to its current position of world No. 157. The 27-year-old takes her place in the US Open courtesy of a wildcard.
If Ivanovic can maintain her current level against Razzano, she should book a place in the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time this year.
Kim Clijsters vs Petra Kvitova
Kvitova enjoys an upset as much as anyone in tennis right now. The then 72nd-ranked Czech developed the taste for it at last year’s US Open when she defeated top seed and then world No. 1 Dinara Safina (who later revealed she’d been struggling with a back injury) in the third round.
But Kvitova really took her penchant for surprise victories to another level at Wimbledon this year, when, then ranked as the world No. 62, she sent 23rd seed Jie Zheng packing in the second round; backed that up by knocking 14th seed Victoria Azarenka out of the tournament in straight sets in the third round; and completed the trifecta with a 6-2, 6-0 defeat of third seed Caroline Wozniacki in the round of 16.
Eventual champion Serena Williams finally halted the Czech’s run in the semi-finals, but Kvitova did enough at the All England Club for Clijsters to know this is a potential danger match.
Clijsters breezed past Australian qualifier Sally Peers 6-2, 6-1 in a second-round match that was never likely to be more than a practice session with a little added pressure as she improved her unbeaten streak at the US Open to 16 straight games.
The left-handed Kvitova could be an awkward opponent for Clijsters, who has been somewhat inconsistent this season after winning the 2009 US Open title in her third tournament back from a retirement that lasted more than two years.
Still, if Clijsters can dictate play with those powerful and penetrating groundstrokes that saw the comeback queen reign at the US Open last year, you’d suspect she’ll take her place among the final 16.
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