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June 7th, 2008
New No. 1 Ivanovic Also a French Open Champ
by Staff
Serb Ana Ivanovic cemented her new No. 1 ranking on Saturday in Paris, defeating Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 to capture her first Grand Slam title at the French Open.
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“There were a few mental games out there today, so I was really happy that in key moments I managed to stay strong and calm, in the second set, especially,” Ivanovic said. “At 4-2 we had a very, very long game. I had a few advantages and wasn’t as aggressive, but I kept my composure, stepped up, won my service game and managed to break her again. I’m really happy with how I played.”
In the final Safina felt the effects of long matches in the fourth round and quarterfinals.
“I tried but I just didn’t have any more of the fire that I had in those matches; I was tired, mentally and physically,” Safina said. “When I was going onto the court I was a bit nervous, but when I started playing, it all went away. But with Ana I had to be really sharp and I was missing a little bit of reaction. What I had to do to her, she was doing to me. But all the credit to her, she played really well.”
Ivanovic improved to 1-2 in Grand Slam finals.
“The last two Grand Slam finals were a great learning experience for me,” Ivanovic said. “I’m only 20 and it was my third final already, so that kept some pressure off me. I was just trying to enjoy it. Obviously there were a lot of emotions inside, but until the last point I tried not to think about the occasion and just focus on my tennis. I was really happy I managed to do that today.”
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