With Williams already waiting in the final, it was going to be one of two of the game's other best power players who was going to join her - and if history were anything to go by, many would have probably suspected it to be Sharapova, who had not only won eight of the pair's previous 11 meetings, but who had also won this very tournament before, conquering the Premier-level event back in 2011.
There were multiple turning points in this rollercoaster of a semifinal match, with Ivanovic the first to strike, storming out to a seemingly insurmountable 6-2, 4-0 lead, and then Sharapova clawing her way back into the match, taking the second set, 7-5, and building a 4-2 lead in the deciding third set. After Ivanovic won the next two games Sharapova broke again and served for the match at 5-4 in the third, even bringing up two match points - but Ivanovic swatted the first one away with a big forehand winner, and Sharapova missed a forehand long on the second one. She then hit back-to-back double faults to give the break back to Ivanovic, and that may have been the most critical turn in the match, as Ivanovic fought off a break point to hold for 6-5 and then broke one last time to close the match out. The No.9-seeded Ivanovic had beaten the No.5-seeded Sharapova in a marathon, 6-2, 5-7, 7-5.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario