Ivanovic Passes Pavlyuchenkova Test to Reach China Open Semis
Ana Ivanovic moved into the China Open semifinals on Friday, rallying late in the second to move past Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 7-5 to reach the final four in Beijing.
The sixth-seeded Serb secured a break at 3-2 in the opening set, and went on to serve out the set to take the advantage.
In the second, however, Pavlyuchenkova got the break advantage to take a 4-2 lead and looked to be on her way to forcing a deciding third set. But Ivanovic dug in, and rattled off five of the final six games to close out the Russian in straight sets.
“I actually do feel like I’ve been the fittest I’ve been this whole year. So to put together this week, it really means a lot to me,” said Ivanovic. “Of course to be again in a semifinal is great. It’s been a little bit of a struggle, but now I feel I have my hame back. I just enjoy competing again because I feel I can put out everything physically.”
Ivanovic will take on 12th seeded Swiss Timea Bacsinszky in the semifinals. Bacsinszky came back from a disastrous first set to upend Sara Errani 0-6, 6-3, 7-5 to earn her spot into the final four.
“Sometimes you don’t need much. Just one or two points can change things a little bit,” Bacsinszky said of her mindset after falling down 0-6 in the first set. “She was up 2-0 and serving 40-15 and I returned quite well, and then I was like, ‘Okay, let’s not go for the early returns, let’s wait.’ Then a little plan started coming up. I’m the kind of player who always tries to find a solution if Plan A is not working out there.”
The other semifinal in Beijing will see fifth-seed Garbine Muguruza take on fourth-seed Agnieszka Radwanska.
Muguruza came out firing against American Bethanie Mattek-Sands and never looked back on her way to a 6-1, 7-5 victory.
Radwanska cruised past the 10th-seeded Angelique Kerber 6-1, 6-4 to punch her ticket into the semifinals.
