But all of that went out the window on Thursday as the No.11-seeded Ivanovic came out firing on all cylinders, storming through the first set in just 31 minutes, 6-1, then breaking in the first game of the second set for a 1-0 lead.
The No.8-seeded Sharapova broke back and stayed on serve with Ivanovic for the next six games, but Ivanovic broke in style for 5-4 - she blasted a huge winner to seal the break - and she then served the match out, finishing it off on another huge hook forehand winner.
Sharapova's numbers on the match were great, but Ivanovic's were even greater.
Sharapova had a positive winners-to-unforced errors differential of +2 (16 to 14) but Ivanovic had an even better +9 differential (22 to 13). Also, Ivanovic played the bigger points better - she converted on five of her eight break point chances during the match, while Sharapova converted on two of her six chances.
At the end of the day, though, the biggest number was seven - the number of times in a row Ivanovic had lost to Sharapova, finally coming to an abrupt end in straight sets. It had also been almost exactly seven years since Ivanovic's last win over Sharapova - the semifinals of the French Open in 2007.
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