By Erik Gudris / Saturday, January 4, 2014

 

Ana Ivanovic overcame a second set comeback from Venus Williams to win the ASB Classic and her first title since 2011.

Photo Credit: Photosport

The last day of the ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, was billed as the "dream final" as it featured two former No. 1 players. But at varying stages, the match became something of a nightmare for both in a highly entertaining if also unpredictable three-set contest.

No. 2 seed Ana Ivanovic entered as a slight favorite against unseeded Venus Williams despite having only beaten the American once in nine previous attempts. Early on, the day looked to be Ivanovic's for the taking as Williams piled up 16 unforced errors midway through the first set.

With Williams continuing to misfire on her forehand wing, Ivanovic went on to pocket the set 6-2. Ivanovic capitalized on yet another forehand miscue from her opponent to break for 3-2 in the second set. Even with the eager local crowd urging Williams to improve her play, it looked inevitable that Ivanovic would close out the match in straight sets.

That was before the Serbian served for the title at 5-4 having missed out on a match point in the last game. By now, Williams had found the range on her forehand wing and started connecting for more winners. That trend continued as Williams cracked a few more to break Ivanovic for 5-all.

After holding serve, Williams again struck several more forehands to close out the set 7-5. Even when Ivanovic broke Williams at love to start the final set, the match still felt too close to call.

Now it was all about who could fire down a big winner first. Williams rallied from 0-40 down in her next service game to eventually hold for 2-3. But Ivanovic came up with clutch serving of her own to always keep her at least a game ahead of Williams.

Ivanovic would get a second chance to serve for the title at 5-4. But instead of asking for her coach as she did at the earlier juncture at the exact same scoreline an hour earlier, Ivanovic decided to figure things out on her own. Williams pounced and soon held 15-40. But Ivanovic stayed calm and with effective serving soon got to deuce. On her second match point opportunity, Ivanovic didn't buckle.

Williams offered up yet one more mistimed forehand error and with that, Ivanovic closed out the 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 victory. Auckland marks the first title for Ivanovic since she won Bali in 2011 and her 12th overall.

"Every victory is special, this one even more so because it's been a while since I've won a tournament," Ivanovic said to WTA.com. "I've worked really hard for this and many times I've been in a position to win another title, so to come through in a final like this against such a good player is obviously a great feeling."