TENNIS in DEPTH.

Fourth seed Ana Ivanovic moved into the second round of the Luxembourg Open with a straightforward win against Sweden’s Johanna Larsson. The Serbian encountered little resistance as she saw off Larsson’s challenge 6-3 6-0.

Elsewhere in the first round Patty Schnyder beat third seed Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium 6-4 6-4, Barbora Zahlova Strycova of the Czech Republic beat sixth seed Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-5 6-1 while Ivana Lisjak pulled out with a left thigh strain against qualifier Polona Hercog. In the second round, Aravane Rezai of France was outclassed 6-0 6-1 by Kirsten Flipkens on the day, seventh seed Jarmila Groth fell 6-4 7-5 to Iveta Benesova and eighth seed Julia Goerges of Germany beat Carla Suarez Navarro 6-2 6-1.

Bookmark It

Ana overwhelmed Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder 6-1, 6-2 to claim the Generali Ladies Linz title. It is the 22-year-old’s first title in exactly two years and the first tournament she has won without dropping a set. It was a 47-minute masterclass by Ana, who had looked to be on a mission from the very first moment she took to the court in Linz. Ana dictated terms immediately and broke the 31-year-old straightaway, partly due to two double faults in the Swiss’ opening service game. Ana was in total command throughout the match. She was fleet footed, gliding around the court and bossing almost every rally. Her returns wer masterful. She broke the left-hander’s serve three times in the opening set and the seventh seed sealed the first set 6-1 with an impressive power display in a 20-minute set. The one-way tennis continued in the second set. Although the audience was hoping for some intriuge, they could not help but appreciate the former No. 1’s marvellous performance and they seemed to enjoy the spectacle. While Ana was painting the lines with magnificent strokes, Schnyder missed them often by a whisker. Ana continued to rampage her way through the final and she took a 5-0 second set lead after just 15 minutes. The Swiss was successful in avoiding the bagel, but two games later, the seventh seed held three championship points. She closed out the match, summing up the final perfectly, with her 25th ace of the tournament. Ana will now head to Luxembourg where she contests the BGL BNP Paribas Luxembourg Open next week

Bookmark It

Ana’s seemingly inexorable assualt on the Generali Ladies Linz title continued on Saturday as she moved past Italian Robert Vinci by a scoreline of 6-3, 7-5 in the semi-finals. She will take on Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder on Sunday in what will be her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final in 19 months. The match began inauspiciously for Ana as she netted a straightforward smash on the opening point but she shrugged off that aberation by playing virtually impeccable tennis for the next two games. She broke in the second game with a wrong-footing cross-court forehand that set the tone for the entire match. It was in keeping with Ana’s previous matches at this tournament, as she had forged ahead early in all three of her ties prior to the semi-finals. She powered to the opening set, 6-3.

It was more of the same in the second set as Ana broke to lead 2-1. However, the Italian began to play a craftier game at this point, switching her tactics to incorporate plenty of net forays. It paid dividends and she broke back immediately. At 3-3 the match was competitive but Ana always looked like the player more likely to move ahead. She duly turned the screw just as a tiebreak threatened: at 5-5 Ana broke to love, earning three break points thanks to a ferocious cross court forehand service return winner, which was followed by a lovely wrong-footing down-the-line backhand winner. Ana sealed victory after 71 minutes with an ace and she then smiled broadly, celebrating her first final of the season. “I really played well, especially in the first set,” said Ana.

“I felt like I was hardly missing. Then she started playing a lot better in the second set, but I was able to stay on top of her with my serve. I was serving really well and that made my life a lot easier in my service games so I could put a lot more pressure on her. “It’s great to be back in the final. I am really excited about it and I have been playing some good tennis lately. I am putting a lot of hard work in, so I really feel that I deserve that spot [in the final]. “I really feel comfortable here. It feels almost like home. The atmosphere is really nice and the courts play well. I really enjoy competing here. I am happy to be playing well and have this many wins here this week.

“Tomorrow is going to be a very tough match. Patty likes to mix it up a lot and never gives you two of the same balls. We had some good matches in the past and I expect a very tough match. I have been playing really well and its going to be important to stay aggressive and try to serve well. Hopefully we can have a good match and the best one tomorrow wins.” Ana and Schnyder share an eye-catching 4-4 head-to-head record; Schynder won the first four matches in straight sets, but Ana has won the last four, dropping just one set in the process.

Bookmark It

Patty Schnyder was at her tenacious best as she dumped second seed Daniela Hantuchova out of the Generali Ladies tournament in Linz to book her place in the semi-finals. Schnyder, twice a finalist here, has been in fine form this week and again shone, breaking twice in the first set and once in the second to seal a 6-4 6-4 win against the Slovakian who was the top ranked player following the withdrawal of Serena Williams. She will next face Andrea Petkovic, who at six is the highest seed left in the tournament. The German saw off Eleni Daniilidou 6-3 6-2 with a largely dominant display after overcoming a fit nerves in the first set when she needed eight set points to get over the line.

Former world number one Ana Ivanovic is still yet to drop a set as she won through to her fourth semi-final of the year with a 7-6 (8/6) 6-2 triumph over Germany’s Julia Goerges. Seventh seed Ivanovic threw away a break advantage in the first set and squandered three set points in game 10 as Goerges pulled back to 5-5 from 5-2 down, but the Serbian came through a tie-break. Ivanovic was more convincing in the second when, after the score was level at 2-2, she broke twice to close out the contest. In the semi-finals she will face Roberta Vinci, a 5-7 6-3 6-4 winner in her all-Italian quarter against ninth seed Sara Errani.

Bookmark It

Agnes Szavay of Hungary again thrilled the home crowd by defeating Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder in the final of the Budapest Grand Prix for the second straight year.

Szavay posted a 6-2, 6-4 victory on Sunday for her fourth career WTA Tour title and her first since claiming this tournament last year with a three-set win over Schnyder.

The seventh-seeded Szavay dominated the first set Sunday with a pair of breaks and staved off two break chances by Schnyder. After a trade of breaks early in the second set, Szavay broke again for a 5-4 lead and held at love to finish the match.

Szavay improved to 4-2 all-time in WTA finals, while Schnyder dropped to 11-15.

The 31-year-old Schnyder had lost in the first round at both of her previous two events — the French Open and Wimbledon — before this week’s run through the draw. She hasn’t won a title since Bali in 2008.

This was the third all-time meeting between Szavay and Schnyder. After last year’s title match in Budapest, the two also met in the first round of the Madrid Open in May and Schnyder prevailed when Szavay was forced to retire in the first set because of a right hamstring injury.

Szavay earned a first prize of $37,000.

Bookmark It

Second-seeded Kim Clijsters was among Thursday’s losers in a second-round match at the Luxembourg Open.

Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, who is not seeded, downed the former World No. 1, a two-time U.S. Open champion, 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (8-6).

“I played a great match with some great defense,” Schnyder said following her third victory in nine career matches against Clijsters. “I was moving very well and moving the ball around the court well, too, which helped me make very few unforced errors. I am very pleased today.”

This was Clijster’s first loss since before the US Open in August.

“Patty played extremely smart today. It’s tough to force errors on her and break through her game,” Clijsters said. “I made more unforced errors and my first serve wasn’t working the way I would have liked it to. I had my chances in the first set and I tried to fight through. It’s disappointing when you’re not playing your best.”

Bookmark It

Kim Clijsters, in a bid to make a comback into the top echelon of the WTA players, cruised past Patty Schnyder 6-2, 7-5 in just over an hour and a quarter to move into the next round. Her next opponent is likely to be Svetlana Kuznetsova, and should put Clijsters game into some kind of perpesctive. Her two victories to date against Bartoli and now Schnyder, while impressive for a player who has not played competively for 2 years, have not tested her movement nor her grit. Kuznetsova is capable of testing both.

Fifth seed Jelena Jankovic advanced with a 7-6 6-3 victory over Russian Maria Kirilenko in a match including 13 breaks of serve.

“I didn’t serve very well and I got a bit lucky at the end of the first set but I am happy I was able to win,” the Serb said. “Hopefully I will get better from here.”

Jankovic’s next opponent will be ninth seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, a 6-4 6-2 winner over Anna Chakvetadze of Russia.

In-form Italian Flavia Pennetta secured a meeting with third seed Venus Williams by beating Hungary’s Agnes Szavay 6-2 6-4, extending her winning streak to 13 matches.

Seventh seed Vera Zvonareva survived a second-set blip to oust Russian Alisa Kleybanova 6-4 1-6 7-5.

Bookmark It