Serena eases knee concerns, Halep breezes past Bouchard
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TOP seed Serena Williams survived a stern test from Ana Ivanovic and eased concerns over her injured knee as she opened the WTA Finals with a 6-4, 6-4 win yesterday.
The world No. 1 settled after a nervous start to put in an ultimately clinical performance in Singapore in which she broke Ivanovic at crucial moments in both sets.
Williams also proved her fitness, in question after she withdrew from this month’s China Open, by chasing down and sliding into points and at one point doing the splits.
“No one needs to drop-shot against me any more,” she said afterwards. “I was just trying to fight as hard as I could, as you could see. I think I’ve been losing my voice from saying so many ‘Come-ons.’”
She did the splits again in the second set, showing she has the elasticity to compliment her renowned power.
“I do work on my flexibility, but not for tennis, because I dance,” she later told a news conference. “I guess it comes in handy. Like knocking two birds out with one stone.”
Williams recovered to earn the first break, but Ivanovic saved more break points at 4-1 before a net cord helped her break back and win three games in a row for 4-4. However, the Serb wasted another break point when she volleyed long and as she served to stay in the set, Williams made her pay when she grabbed her second break and the first set 6-4.
An attritional second set came alive in the seventh game when Ivanovic’s baseline smash winner was answered by Williams’ fabulous cross-court drop-shot as the American went 4-3 ahead. And with Ivanovic serving at 4-5 down, Williams again raised her game as she drilled a backhand down the line before converting the first of two match points when the Serb went long.
Williams is trying to become the first woman to win the season finale three times in a row, as well as secure her fourth year-end world No. 1 ranking ahead of Maria Sharapova.
She closed in on Martina Navratilova’s record of 21 straight wins at the season-ending tournament.
Ivanovic, a former world No. 1, is playing the year-ending tournament for the first time since 2008.
In the second round-robin match in the eight-woman event last night, Romania’s Simona Halep comfortably defeated Canada’s Eugenie Bouchard, a Wimbledon finalist, 6-2, 6-3.
In a clash of the only two players making their first appearance at the season-ending championships, Halep lost only four points when getting her first serve into play. Bouchard was well below her best, racking up 30 unforced errors against 11 from Halep.
In today’s White Group matches, Sharapova takes on Caroline Wozniacki and Petra Kvitova faces Agnieszka Radwanska.
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