TENNIS in DEPTH.

The visitors overcame Russia 3-2 in a gripping finale after doubles specialists Lucie Hradecka and Kveta Peschke proved too good for Russia’s Maria Kirilenko and Elena Vesnina. The Czech pair needed four match points to close out their first Fed Cup victory since 1988 and their first as an independent nation, winning the doubles rubber 64 62 to send their travelling contingent of fans delirious in the Olympic Stadium.

The win was set up earlier in the day when Petra Kvitova battled past Svetlana Kuznetsova 46 62 63 in what was the rubber of the weekend. Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova had kept home hopes alive by defeating Lucie Safarova in the fourth rubber but it was too little too late.

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Ivanovic, who didn’t win an International title this year but was given a wildcard into the event as defending champion, had looked solid through her first two rounds, snapping a two-match losing streak to Roberta Vinci with a 63 63 win, then holding off a late surge from longtime rival Nadia Petrova, 61 75. That form only got better in the final, as Ivanovic broke early en route to taking the first set, then dominated the 27-minute second set, losing just seven points. While they had comparable unforced errors – Ivanovic 18, Medina Garrigues 17 – Ivanovic kept piling on winners from both wings, finishing the 61-minute match with 20 of them (and allowing the Spanish veteran just four total). ”I felt like I didn’t do much wrong. It was a great match for me,” Ivanovic said in her on-court interview. “Anabel and I practiced together all week, so it was nice we got a chance to play each other on the last day of the tournament.” This is the first time Ivanovic has won any WTA title two years running. “I’m super relaxed here, and that helps. I come here to compete, but I also spend lots of time on the beach and in the spa, and the people are so friendly – I’ve made many new friends. It’s just so enjoyable here. It feels great to play here. ”Thank you so much to the tournament for giving me a wildcard this year.” And on winning her first WTA title of the year – and the 11th of her career – on her birthday? “It’s the best way to celebrate my birthday, in front of so many people. Actually it’s the most people I’ve ever had at my birthday!”

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The world number one, who was nursing a shoulder injury, lost 2-6 7-6 (7-4) 6-0 to the world number 32. Nishikori, a wildcard entry in the tournament, will now meet Roger Federer or Stanislas Wawrinka in the final. The Japanese player is only the second man, after Federer, to beat Djokovic in a completed match this year. Two of Djokovic’s previous four defeats had come as the result of retirements. The top seed received treatment for his shoulder problem early in the match and needed another injury timeout at the start of the final set. After the match he admitted his shoulder had been troubling him all week, but said he still expected to play in the Paris Masters, starting on Monday. ”I don’t think I’ll be able to train for the next few days, but I think I’ll go straight to Paris,” he said. And he paid tribute to his opponent, who has just one career title – on hard courts at Delray Beach, Florida, in 2008. ”He was getting impossible balls back and really making me play every shot,” said Djokovic. “He was better and I didn’t use the opportunities I had. I don’t think I should speak about that third set.” The Serbian was playing in his first tournament following six weeks out with a back problem. Nishikori said: “It’s unbelievable. In the second set I started playing well and getting a rhythm.”

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Ivanovic booked her place with a 6-1 7-5 win over Nadia Petrova, while Garrigues was leading 4-0 in the deciding set of her semi-final when Sabine Lisicki was forced to retire due to a back injury. Ivanovic gave up just three points in the opening four games as her aggressive baseline play left her Russian opponent reeling. After claiming the first set, the Serb broke for 1-0 in the second and then held three points for a 3-0 lead before Petrova responded. Three consecutive breaks saw the players level at 3-3 and Ivanovic then had to fight off a set point at 5-4, firing an impressing backhand winner down the line. And Ivanovic seized the moment, holding for 5-5, breaking to move ahead, and then serving out the match. ”I played really well from the beginning,” said former world number one and French Open champion Ivanovic, who turns 24 on Sunday. ”Then that game at 2-0 (in the second set), she really raised her game and went for more shots and made less errors and was serving bigger. ”Not breaking her then was kind of a turning point for her a little bit and then I played a bad game to lose my serve. That was crucial and then we had a bit of a fight.” In the second semi-final, Lisicki looked flat right from the start against Medina Garrigues, who claimed the opening set 6-3. Lisicki was clearly in pain by the middle of the second set and the German left the court for several minutes for treatment after breaking to lead 4-3. When she returned, Lisicki won two of the next three games to take the match into a third set but, after earning just two points in the first four games, she quit at 30-30 in the fifth.

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Ana Ivanovic, ranked 26th in the world, eased to a 6-3 6-3 victory over an opponent ranked four places higher than her. The defending champion and former world number one, Ivanovic took a little over one hour and 10 minutes to take the win. Russian world number 31 Nadia Petrova also reached the last four with a straight-sets win over China’s Shuai Peng. Petrova won 6-4 6-3 in one and a half hours against a player ranked at 16 in the current standings. The toournament features the ‘best of the rest’ from the 2011 WTA season. The top six players from the WTA’s international series are in the field, along with two wild cards. Marion Bartoli, the world number nine, is the top seed for the event. She opens her campaign against Anabel Medina Garrigues on Friday.

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Rafael Nadal has pulled out of next week’s BNP Paribas Masters to ensure he is in peak condition for the ATP Tour Finals and the start of the 2012 season. The Spaniard, who last competed in Shanghai last month but saw his tournament end at the last-16 stage with defeat to Florian Mayer, will instead focus on the year-ending event in London which starts on November 20 as well as his preparations for next season. Nadal said on his official Facebook page: “I won’t be playing this upcoming week the tournament in Paris Bercy. ”It’s been a difficult decision to take but I understand that it is what I need to do right now to prepare well for the end of this season and also for 2012.

“I hope I can be back in 2012 to that great event in the most beautiful city in the world, and hopefully try to win it once day.” Nadal has had, by his own standards, a mixed year with just three titles to his name, at the French Open and in Barcelona and Monte Carlo.

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Roger Federer reached the quarter-finals of the Swiss Indoors in Basle on Wednesday but did not have things his own way against Finland’s world number 66 Jarkko Nieminen. Federer dropped the second set before rallying to claim a 6-1 4-6 6-3 success in one hour and 35 minutes. The Swiss great also saw potential semi-final foe Andy Murray removed from his path – the Briton withdrew from the tournament due to injury.

In the day’s only other second-round match, Marcos Baghdatis won an entertaining three-set tussle with Germany’s Michael Lammer 7-6 (7/2) 6-7 (2/7) 6-3 to reach the last eight, where he will expect to face top seed Novak Djokovic. In first-round action, seventh seed Andy Roddick beat Tommy Haas 6-3 6-4, while sixth seed Janko Tipsarevic retired injured trailing 5-1 to Florian Mayer, something which hurts his chances of appearing in the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London. There were also wins for Radek Stepanek and Lukasz Kubot.

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