TOKYO: Defending champion Ana Ivanovic survived a brave challenge from Italian Camila Giorgi on Thursday at the Pan Pacific Open, managing a tough 7-5, 6-2 victory.
The victory put the Serb second seed in a quarter-final against Dominika Cibulkova in a rematch of the US Open where Ivanivic was ousted by the Slovak.
In Tokyo, Ivanovic struggled to keep full control of the match particularly during the first set when she suffered five double faults, as Giorgi fired a succession of big serves and deep returns to keep their gap within close margins.
In the second set, Giorgi led 2-0, as the world number-12 Ivanovic vented her frustration.
Later, however, Ivanovic snapped back winning the next six straight games and the set 6-2 in one hour and 39 minutes.
“I am very happy to have the victory because it was a very, very tough match,” said Ivanovic, who won the Tokyo event last year by beating Caroline Wozniacki in the final.
The Dane is also here to regain the trophy that she lifted in 2010 and is the top-seed this year.
“She (Giorgi) has been playing very well, hitting the balls very deep. I had to stay low and she generated a lot of power on ground strokes as well as serves,” Ivanovic said.
The Serb said she was eager to fight Cibulkova after the US Open.
“I really feel like I am ready for revenge. I had great preparation. I really did everything possible to get in shape,” she said.
“Hopefully, I can get the better of her this time,” she said.
In other matches, Agnieszka Radwanska, 2011 Pan Pacific winner, cruised by Elina Svitolina with a 6-4, 6-1 victory.
In a quarter-final, the seventh-seed Pole will face fourth-seed Czech rising star Karolina Pliskova, who beat Kurumi Nara of Japan 6-2, 6-4.
Radwanska won all of their three previous matches.
Cibulkova beat sixth-seed Carla Suarez Navarro 6-4, 6-4.
Results (x denotes seeding):
Second round: Ana Ivanovic (SRB x2) bt Camila Giorgi (ITA) 7-5, 6-2; Agnieszka Radwanska (POL x7) bt Elina Svitolina (UKR) 6-4, 6-1; Karolina Pliskova (CZE x4) bt Kurumi Nara (JPN) 6-2, 6-4; Dominika Cibulkova (SVK) bt Carla Suarez Navarro (ESP x6) 6-4, 6-4-
STEPHENS ADVANCES TO QUARTER-FINAL
SEOUL: American Sloane Stephens cruised past Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm to advance to the quarter-finals of the WTA Korea Open on Thursday.
Third-seeded Stephens defeated 44-year-old Date-Krumm, champion in Seoul in 2009, 6-3, 6-4 in the second round of the tournament.
The 22-year-old American, ranked 32nd in the world, won her first WTA title at the Citi Open in Washington last month.
Aliaksandra Sasnovich of Belarus, ranked 136th in the world, meanwhile earned a surprise win over Magdalena Rybarikova, currently ranked 73rd, defeating the Slovak 6-3, 6-3.
Russia’s Elizaveta Kulichkova also breezed past the fourth-seeded American Varvara Lepchenko 6-0, 6-2, while Romanian Irina Begu, ranked 29th in the world, defeated Slovenian Polona Hercog after a tough battle, eventually winning 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2.
Results:
Women’s singles:
Second round: Irina Begu (ROM) bt Polona Hercog (SLO) 6-2, 6-7 (6/8), 6-2; Elizaveta Kulichkova (RUS) bt Varvara Lepchenko (US x4) 6-0, 6-2; Aliaksandra Sasnovich (BLR) bt Magdalina Rybarikova (SVK) 6-3, 6-3; Sloane Stephens (US x3) bt Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 6-3, 6-4.—AFP
Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2015
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