Ivanovic falls to Zheng again

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 12:03

The second-seeded Serbian was unable to overcome a partisan crowd as she suffered a 7-6 (7/4) 2-6 6-4 loss in their quarter-final clash.

Playing on home soil, Zheng forced 19 break points and converted five to earn her second victory against Ivanovic this season.

Zheng also ousted the fourth-ranked Ivanovic earlier this year at Wimbledon en route to becoming the first player from China to reach a grand slam semi-final.

The 25-year-old, who missed the final seven months of 2007 due to a serious ankle injury, has risen from 133rd to 30th in the rankings over the past three months and is seeking her first title since winning at Stockholm in August 2006.

Ivanovic won her first grand slam title at the French Open this summer and subsequently became the new world number one, but has struggled to find form since and has not reached a semi-final since Roland Garros.

Zheng will next face fourth-seeded Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, who cruised to a 6-2 6-4 victory over Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia. Kuznetsova’s compatriot, fifth seed Vera Zvonareva, also booked a place in the last four with a 6-0 6-1 rout of Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues.

A winner in Guangzhou last week, Zvonareva will be tested in the semi-finals when she faces top-seeded Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who was a 7-5 6-1 winner over seventh seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia.

Although she has won two titles and reached five finals this season, Zvonareva has managed just six victories against players ranked in the world’s top-20. However, one of those victories came against the second-ranked Jankovic earlier this year in the Miami semi-finals.

Jankovic, a runner-up in Beijing last year, has just one title in 2008 despite the fact that she has reached the quarter-finals or better in 17 of 18 tournaments played this year.

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