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Ana Ivanovic Vs. Alisa Kleybanova In Bali Final
By Alberto Amalfi
(November 6, 2010) Ana Ivanovic celebrated her 23rd birthday with a song and a spot in the Bali final. The 24th-ranked Ivanovic held off 40-year-old Kimiko Date Krumm, 7-5, 6-7(5), 6-2 in two hours, 23 minutes to set up a Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions final against Alisa Kleybanova. The 27th-ranked Kleybanova continues her quest for her third Asian title this year after erasing Daniela Hantuchova, 6-3, 6-1 in today's first semifinal.
"Kimiko makes you work really hard for your points. She’s not going to give it to you and you have to take it," said Ivanovic, who was serenaded by the spectators with ‘Happy Birthday’ as she warmed up for the match. "It was a really tough match mentally and physically and I’m really pleased I used the opportunities in the third set."
Wild card Date Krumm broke Ivanovic at love in her opening two service games in racing out to a 5-3 first-set lead and earning two set points before the former World No. 1 roared back to win four consecutive games and seize the set.
"That was really disappointing because I really felt my serve was a big weapon in the last few weeks," Ivanovic said of the early breaks. "And my return wasn’t really there, but I had a lot of break points that I didn’t convert. But I managed to stay calm and win that first set. I think it was really important."
It was a reversal of fortune in the second set as Ivanovic broke a second time to lead 5-3. But she failed to serve out the match, and could not convert a match point at 6-5 in the tie breaker before Date Krumm edged the tiebreak 7-5.
Picking up her serve in the final set, Ivanovic won 16 of the 20 points played on her serve in the last set.
"I just tried to focus but I was still tired from the first round," said Date Krumm, who upset top-seeded Li Na in the first round. "I felt my body was quite heavy. I tried to push. Sometimes good, but at 5-3 even though I was leading there wasn’t power coming from the inside. She missed a lot at the beginning so I had luck, but after that her serve was getting better, a lot of aces, and I couldn’t control anymore."
Kleybanova took command of the second semi with two early breaks and rolled to a 5-1 second-set lead.
"I think one of the keys was my serve, because it really helped me today on important points in the first set. I felt very good with it in the second set as well. I was able to mix it up and hit some aces. Definitely when you have a big serve it puts pressure on the opponent," said Kleybanova, who won the first two titles of her career this year in Kuala Lumpur and Seoul.
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