Bali (Indonesia), Nov. 6: Ana Ivanovic celebrated her 23rd birthday with a fighting 7-5, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 win over Kimiko Date Krumm on Saturday which took her into the final of the Bali Tournament of Champions against Alisa Kleybanova.
Former number one and 2008 French Open winner Ivanovic had to struggle for almost two and a half hours to subdue the fighting-fit 40-year-old WTA comeback queen Date Krum. On the other hand, Kleybanova took a mere 71 minutes to sink Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 6-3, 6-1.
The Russian, who claimed her first two career titles this year in Asia at Kuala Lumpur and Seoul, is now a win away from her third in the East. Kleybanova, ranked 27th to the 31 of former Bali semifinalist Hantuchova, overwhelmed the Slovak in the rout at a huge hotel ballroom laid out with a tennis court.
“My serve was the key, it really helped me on important points in the first set, said Kleybanova. I was able to mix it up in the second set and hit some aces,” she said.
Ivanovic has recovered from the depths of a 65th ranking at the start of the season, now rising to 24th as she works her way back towards the elite zone. The Serb qualified for the eight-woman Bali event for winners of International-level events by winning Linz last month, her first title in two years since last winning the Austrian tournament.