Fourth seeded Ana Ivanovic battled past a tricky oponnent on Wednesday to advance at the St.Petersburg Ladies Trophy. Talented Russian Margarita Gasparyan pushed the former world number one as far as she could, but Ivanovic was in fine form with her forehand painting the lines.
Ivanovic Battles Through Tight First Set
The first set was really tense with both players playing well, putting on a great show. The set started with four holds to 2-2. The Russian's serve seemed more solid, while the Serbian had a problem with double faults. On the contrary, Ivanovic was the more dominant of the two in rallies. The former world number one quickly found the break after some good returns to lead 4-2. Gaparyan was not finished though and played some fearless tennis, with her one-handed backhands on fire to break back to square the set at 4-4. Another pair of holds would make it 5-5, before the Serbian got the crucial break after a long game to close out the set 7-5.
It was a great set of tennis. Ivanovic's forehand looked in perfect shape, even though she had some trouble with her serve. From the other side, Gasparyan's serve was really solid and troubled counterpart quite a bit, but her choices in rallies were not always the best. For the set, Ivanovic won just three more points than Gasparyan, 41 to 38. The extra break was the key difference with the Russian allowing two breaks off of five chances, while Ivanovic only allowed one break on two chances.
Ivanovic Comes Back From a Break Down to Seal Win
The Russian gave the first hit in the second set of the match, leading with a break at 2-0. Gasparyan actually had the chance to lead 3-0, but failed to close the game out as she quickly lost the lead. She would lose right points in a row and the set was right back on serve at 2-3. Gasparyan would not win another game with Ivanovic putting on a wonderful display of some of her best tennis, while the Russian's efforts did not end with the needed result. The end seemed more of a mental breakdown, after she failed to close out the third game. It was a solid performance by both players, but Ivanovic was the more consistent of the two on the day. That was apparent in the second set where Gasparyan won only 11 of 26 service points, while Ivanovic was able to control things with her first serve. The Serbian would win 11 of 16 first serve points in the set.
The Stats
The Serbian ended the match with a positive differential of 26 winners to 22 unforced errors, while her oponnent had 16 winners to 18 errors. Gasparyan had more aces with five, but she was rusty at the net. She won three out of the seven points played at the net. Ivanovic's stats were more balanced with only her double faults as a worrisome number, with five for the match.
Ana Ivanovic will now face either Elena Vesnina who beat Patricia-Maria Tig or Kateryna Kozlova who upset Barbora Strycova.