Ivanovic swats aside China’s Zhang
Print Edition
ANA Ivanovic, a Grand Slam winner and seven times a season-end top 20 player, reached the first grass court final of her career yesterday at the Birmingham Open in England.
The 26-year-old former world No. 1 from Serbia did so with a 6-2, 6-2 thumping win over Zhang Shuai, a steadily improving Chinese player contesting her first premier level event in only her second grass court tournament.
By contrast Ivanovic has been trying to overcome the uncertainties of this surface for most of her career, and claimed she is finally achieving that at the Wimbledon buildup event.
She certainly hit the ball with force off the ground, especially from the forehand, and grew conspicuously in confidence as the match went on.
However that happened only after an indifferent start in which she went 0-2 down
“It was important to stay calm, because it’s grass and it can slip away from you fast,” she said. “I was happy to stay calm and get back into the match.”
She also did so by improving her ratio of first serves, creating a better platform for her ground-stroking power, which in turn made Zhang, 25, feel she had to do more with the ball, leading to more errors.
“Zhang is a great player and you are going to hear a lot more of her,” Ivanovic said.
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