By Adrianna Outlaw | Friday, June 17, 2016
Caroline Garcia saved five set points, beating Ana Ivanovic for the fourth time in a row, 7-6 (9), 5-7, 6-3, to reach the Mallorca semifinals.
Photo credit: Mallorca Open
Ana Ivanovic had Caroline Garcia right where she wanted her, but Garcia continues to have Ivanovic's number.
Garcia saved five set points in the opening set battling past Ivanovic, 7-6 (9), 5-7, 6-3 to surge into her first career grass-court semifinal at the Mallorca Open.
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In a match of the reigning Roland Garros doubles champion against the former French Open singles champion, Garcia rallied from 3-6 down in the tie break. She saved three set points in a row, and five in all, before converting her second set point to snatch a one-set lead.
The third-seeded Ivanovic took the second set to level, but Garcia raced out to a 3-0 lead in the decider and never looked back beating the former world No. 1 for the fourth time in five meetings.
Ivanovic is a flat-hitting power player. Garcia's semifinal opponent, Kirsten Flipkens, is a versatile all-court player who varies the spins and speeds of her shots.
Flipkens played her slice backhand effectively, eliminating Paraguayan qualifier Veronica Cepede Royg, 7-5, 6-3, to reach her second semifinal of the season.
Flipkens, who owns grass-court wins over Grand Slam champions Petra Kvitova, Flavia Pennetta and Garbine Muguruza, is a 2013 Wimbledon semifinalist. Experience served her well today as Flipkens broke back when Cepede Royg served for the opening set.
"It was warm today but I had a good match today," Flipkens told WTATennis.com. "I think she started off really well and at the beginning it was really tough to play my game. But I got into the match better and better, serving well.
"For sure, she was in good shape coming out of qualifying, so I needed to see how her game was. She got an early break, so it was important for me to break her back when she was serving for the set. I was always winning the first point on her serve, but it was a matter of getting into those second and third points. Once I broke back to 5-5, I felt like I was back in the match."
Latvia's Anastasija Sevastova held off Mariana Duque-Marino, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to reach the final four. She will play Jelena Jankovic for a place in the final.
The second-seeded Serbian dismissed qualifier Sorana Cirstea, 6-3, 6-3, in 78 minutes.