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By Sean Rudolph
(August 14, 2010) Ana Ivanovic's Cincinnati resurgence came to an abrupt and tearful end today. Ivanovic suffered a left ankle injury and retired from her semifinal against Kim Clijsters while trailing in 1-2 at the Western & Southern Financial Group Masters.
"All of a sudden on that one shot I felt like something crack a little bit. I was very scared," said Ivanovic, who appeared to suffer the injury running around her backhand to hit a forehand. "I'm obviously disappointed the way it finished, because I felt like I had a really good run and it was a good start to the match for both of us, I think."
A tearful Ivanovic, who left the court to a standing ovation, headed to a local hospital for an MRI on her foot.
"Just on that one forehand when I went to step around it, I just felt so much pain in my foot and I couldn't step on it anymore," Ivanovic said. "I tried bit of tape, but I could not put any weight on it and there was no point in me continuing."
The MRI showed Ivanovic had suffered strained ankle ligaments rather than a bone fracture. She will undergo more tests and treatment in the coming days to assess her status.
Clijsters was serving at 2-1 with the advantage when Ivanovic walked off the court and called for a trainer after sustaining the foot injury. Ivanovic received treatment then returned to the court. She tied the game at deuce, but Clijsters cracked an ace her on the next serve and Ivanovic retired.
The fourth-seeded Clijsters advanced to her first final since she beat fifth-ranked Venus Williams, 6-2, 6-1, to win the Sony Ericsson Open in April.
The reigning US Open champion will face 10th-seeded Maria Sharapova in the final. Sharapova snapped and Pavlyuchenkova's nine-match winning streak, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2.
Former World No. 1 Ivanovic enetered the event ranked No. 62, but fought back from a set and a break down to beat Stanford champion Victoria Azarenka in the opening round en route to her first semifinal since Rome in May. Ivanovic is projected to return to the top 50 when the new WTA Tour rankings are released on Monday, but her status for the Pilot Pen in New Haven and the US Open, which starts on August 30th, is uncertain.