Ivanovic v Safina in First-Time-Winner French Open Final
The players with the most heart won out Thursday in the French Open semifinals, where Serb Ana Ivanovic and Russian Dinara Safina set up a meeting to see which will walk away with their first Grand Slam title.
Ivanovic outlasted her Serbiajn compatriot Jelena Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a see-saw battle that once again saw Jankovicbail out mentally during the big moments.
“Kill myself? No, I will have some dinner and maybe get drunk or do something,” said Jankovic, who reportedly had a lengthy cry after the match, speaking to reporters. “I don’t know. Whatever makes me feel better.”
The all-Serb battle was for the No. 1 ranking, and win or lose in the final, Ivanovic will surpass Maria Sharapova and take the top spot for the first time on the WTA Rankings.
“Being number one is a dream come true for me,” Ivanovic said. “It was a big surprise because I was so focused on the tournament. This is a great achievement and something that I’m very proud of. It hasn’t exactly hit me yet because it won’t be official until Monday. I’m sure we’ll have a big celebration then.”
In the final Ivanovic will face Safina, who brutalized the big-match-choking Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2. Safina came out firing, while Kuznetsova grew more moody and dour as the match progressed.
“It was pretty horrible out there. I felt pretty bad,” Kuznetsova said.
Ivanovic and Safina have not faced each other since 2006, when the Serb won both meetings. Ivanovic leads the career head-to-head 2-1, with the Russian winning their only meeting on clay.
TENNIS-X NEWS, NOTES, QUOTES AND BARBS
Ana Ivanovic will be the new No. 1 ranked player come Monday. Ivanovic has now reached three Slam finals. Jelena Jankovic is still stuck at zero…
What does Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga have in common? They are all French. They are under 23. And they all have reached Slam semifinals (and finals) with the trio of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic in the last year…
Federer and Djokovic have reached the semifinals in the last five Slams…Federer also has reached the semifinals at 16 straight slams, well ahead of Ivan Lendl’s 8 who is next on that list…
Dinara Safina is trying to become the first women to save match points in two matches and win a slam (corrected from Thursday notes)…
Rafael Nadal is 29-0 at Roland Garros. Plus 39-0 in best-of-5 set clay matches. Nadal has beaten Novak all four times on clay, losing just one set. A very hard-fought one at Hamburg…
Dinara Safina will move to No. 9 in the rankings…
The last Frenchman to reach the final at Roland Garros was Henri Leconte in 1988…
Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Andy Roddick are all playing Queen’s Club next week…
Roger Federer has one more title on the year than Gael Monfils…
Gael Monfils has equaled his win total for the year just at the French Open (5). Monfils was born in Paris…
Svetlana Kuznetsova had never lost in a Slam semifinal until today (was 3-0)…
Rafael Nadal is undefeated as a 22-year-old…
Roger Federer is the oldest player left playing singles at Roland Garros….
Forecast: Small chance of rain, cool temperatures…
An Australian survey shows tennis has become the country’s No. 1 most-popular sport, overtaking cricket. Golf came in last of the 10 sports rated…
Slazenger has agreed to sponsor the June grasscourt ATP event in Nottingham, which will be called the Slazenger Open…
Ana Ivanovic is the third woman in WTA Rankings history to ascend to No. 1 before winning a Slam, joining Amelie Mauresmo and Kim Clijsters…
Richard Evans writing for Tennis Week on Ana Ivanovic: “Whatever happens when she meets Darina Safina, a surprise winner over Svetlana Kuznetsova today, in the final on Saturday, this strikingly beautiful young woman will ascend to the heady heights of No. 1 in the world…But sweet Ana, who manages to look angelic in triumph or disaster, kept her head…Powerful, charming, intelligent…Oh, the list is endless. Serbia is blessed to have such an ambassador as Ana Ivanovic.” — Nice love-letter reporting — Ana right now is seeking the restraining order…
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