By Adrianna Outlaw | Wednesday, February 17, 2016

 

Ana Ivanovic saved a set point in her 7-6 (2), 6-2 victory over top-seeded Simona Halep in Dubai.

Photo credit: Dubai Duty Free Tennis Championships

Ana Ivanovic spent the early stages of the match finding her footing.

Once she did, the former world No. 1 gave defending Dubai champion Simona Halep the boot.

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Ivanovic saved a set point toppling the top-seeded Halep, 7-6 (2), 6-2, to power into the Dubai quarterfinals for the fourth time.

It is Ivanovic's first win over a Top 5-ranked opponent since she defeated then world No. 5 Genie Bouchard at the 2014 WTA Finals in Singapore.

Seeds continue to scatter from the field. All of the top eight seeds were ousted before the quarterfinals.

Elina Svitolina swept second-seeded Garbine Muguruza, 7-6 (3), 6-3. American Madison Brengle surprised fourth-seeded Petra Kvitova, 0-6, 7-6 (1), 6-3. 

The top four seeds exited today.  No. 3-seeded Carla Suarez Navarro, who lost to Caroline Garcia earlier today, joined fifth-seeded Belinda Bencic, sixth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, seventh-seeded Roberta Vinci and eighth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova in departing the draw.

Halep broke in bursting out to a 3-1 lead.

Down 2-3, Ivanovic called for her coach, Nigel Sears, to gripe about her unstable footing on the hard court after a rain delay.

"It's so slippery," Ivanovic said.

Sears urged his charge to focus on the match.

"That's to the umpire's discretion. You mentioned it, she spent time drying it, let's just focus on tennis," Sears said. "You're hitting the forehand great, staying aggressive and the rhythm is pretty decent on serve. Buckle down, clean up the unforced errors and keep being aggressive when you're positioned well."

That advice calmed the world No. 17. Ivanovic fought off a set point and broke back for 5-all before saving a break point in the next game. Halep hammered an ace down the middle to force the tie break.