Serbian tennis star through to Indian Wells quarter-finals Ivanovic late wake-up call Author: Z. Kecman | 19.03.2009 - 08:41 Ana Ivanovic has survived the fourth round of the combined tennis event in Indian Wells against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta. The holding champion of the $9-million tournament was forced to play three tight sets in order to ensure a hard-fought 6-4 4-6 6-4 win after 125 minutes of play. Ivanovic meets Sybille Bammer of Austria in the quarter-finals. The clash between Ivanovic and Pennetta was marked by an unusually high number of breaks – as many as fifteen – while Ana managed to come just on top having snatched eight of Pennetta’s serve games and dropped seven of her own. Ivanovic was more convincing out of the blocks, taking a 4-0 lead in the opening set, but Pennetta bounced back to narrow the gap to 4-3. The remaining three games were all dropped by the server, as Ivanovic claimed the narrow first set 6-4. Pennetta was on top in the second, having come to a 3-0 lead straight away. The Italian then managed to clinch the set 6-4 and level the overall score. Ana took the initiative in the decider, led 2-0 and 4-1, but Pennetta responded to close the gap at 4-4. The Serb then held her serve and Pennetta couldn’t cope with the pressure in the following game, meaning Ana’s eighth break of the match was enough to win the final set 6-4 and the match. - “I’m very happy to get through,” said a visibly delighted Ana. “I started off very well but I lost my rhythm and she put a lot of pressure on me. In the end I’m just very happy I was able to come up with the shots when it mattered. Considering the late finish I’m happy to have a day off tomorrow!,” said the world’s number seven. Ivanovic’s next opponent – Sybille Bammer – will surely be a more formidable obstacle. The Austrian cruised into the quarter-finals without dropping a single set in the tournament so far. Moreover, Ivanovic has already lost once to Bammer – at the 2007 edition of Indian Wells. Bammer disposed of Daniela Hantuchova 6-3 6-2 and seems to be on a positive run of form in California. Novak Djokovic played his own fourth-round tie late last night against Switzerland’s Stanislas Wawrinka, but the day before he had to shrug off the challenge of Tommy Haas, once an ATP No. 2, in 2002. Novak is raising his game as the tournament progresses and looks like he is on the path of restoring his top form. The Serbian number one was impressive in the first set against Haas, and won it 6-2. The German was furious with himself and even smashed and broke his racquet in protest, for which he was penalized with a point awarded to Djokovic. Despite the nervy patch, Haas composed himself enough to take the second set into the tie-breaker. Djokovic came out strong in the final game of the set and took the tie-breaker in style. - “I’m still searching for the right rhythm and I don’t want to overburden myself. I think I’m playing quite well at the moment, and I’m focusing on maintaining as much energy as possible for the latter stages of the tournament, not underestimating my opponents and taking it step by step,” said Novak. Meanwhile, Serbia’s Viktor Troicki failed to repeat the fine performance he displayed in the third round against Tomas Berdych and lost his fourth-round clash against David Nalbandian in straight sets – 6-4 6-2. Troicki served very convincingly in the opening set, with ten aces as opposed to no reply from the Argentinean. However, the key points – especially those in the tenth game while losing 5-4 – went Nalbandian’s way. The psychological meltdown was obvious in the second set, as Nalbandian dictated the pace of the game and took cruised to win. The Argentinean No. 14 seed at Indian Wells faces the world’s number one Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals. http://www.blic.rs/sports.php?id=4085 -- ─┬╮┐┌┌ ˙ ┐ ˙╭╮┐ ─┬╮ THE TWILIGHT SAGA │ │││ │ │ ││╮├╮ │ Twilight．New Moon．Eclipse．Breaking Dawn ┘ ╰╯╯ ┘ ┘ ┘╰╯┘┘ ┘ STEPHENIE MEYER Knockin' On Heaven's Door - my mind, my life...http://bvisgood.pixnet.net/blog --

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