Ivanovic To Go For Repeat Against Medina Garrigues In Bali

(November 5, 2011) Defending Bali champion Ana Ivanovic powered her way through Nadia Petrova 6-1, 7-5 to set up a clash with Anabel Medina Garrigues in her efforts to win her first title in a year. Medina Garrigues advanced while leading 6-3, 4-6, 4-0 when her opponent, Sabine Lisicki, was forced to retire with an injury to her back.

Normally an event reserved for players that won at least one International-level tournament during the season, Ivanovic received a wild card into this year’s event hoping to close the season strong and repeat as champion. She gave herself that chance by advancing to the final thanks to five breaks of serve in 12 opportunities.

Overall the Serbian was too strong for Petrova, who won only 47 percent of points on her serve. She was unable to take advantage of the sometimes shaky serve of Ivanovic, winning only 36 percent of return points for the match.

The first set was all Ivanovic, who won eight of 13 points on her return, earning two breaks in the process of winning 77 percent of points on her serve including every first serve. Petrova tried to fight back in the second, saving seven break chances, but was unable to overcome the onslaught of the Serbian’s return game.

Ivanovic will have her hands full if she hopes to repeat in Bali as Medina Garrigues has challenged her in all three of their previous matches. While Ivanovic has won the last two meetings, each match has gone to three sets with Medina Garrigues winning their only match on hard courts.

Known for her powerful serve, it was evident early on that Lisicki was not in top shape, hitting four double faults in the first set in the process of winning only 49 percent of service points. Her struggles on serve continued in the second set, being broken three times and winning only 11 of 28 points on her serve.

The German found a way to will her way into games against the serve of Medina Garrigues, breaking four times to sneak away with the second set. In the third set, it was obvious that Lisicki could not realistically continue and Medina Garrigues played smart, grinding tennis, limiting Lisicki to only four points and breaking twice before the German chose to retire.

Medina Garrigues earned her way into Bali, winning in Estoril and Palermo. She also walked away with two WTA doubles titles for the year.