FC55AAF3-AD70-4B0D-8E03-3CE317ABFEC4
By Richard Pagliaro
© Natasha Peterson/Corleve
(September 3, 2010) Ana Ivanovic spent some of her US Open Series summer between the covers. An avid reader, Ivanovic was absorbed by Stieg Larsson's "The Girl Who Played With Fire" and today a fist-pumping Ivanovic looked liked the woman empowered by an inferno of intensity in a 7-5, 6-0 thrashing of 157th-ranked French wild card Virginie Razzano.
The victory vaults Ivanovic into a fourth-round showdown with reigning champion Kim Clijsters in a match of former World No. 1 players.
Down a double break at 0-3 minutes into the match, Clijsters found her range and reeled off 12 consecutive games in pounding Petra Kvitova, 6-3, 6-0. It was Clijsters'17th consecutive US Open victory. She raied her record to 23-1 in her last four visits to Flushing Meadows.
"A match like this today probably gives me more satisfaction, because, you know, I beat a good player without even playing my best tennis," Clijsters said. "There were moments in there that I was very satisfied with the way I was playing, and just overall the way I was moving, the way that I was serving. But then, yeah, it becomes kind of you become greedy in a way because you want it there, you want that to happen in every rally that you play in."
The fourth round match is a rematch of the Cincinnati semifinals where Clijsters held a 2-1 lead when Ivanovic retired with a foot injury.
"Kim is a great player. She hasn't lost a match here in a long time. So I can go out there and try to do my best," Ivanovic said. "I've been playing really well. It's gonna be exciting no matter what. I think, you know, in some ways we have similar games. It's going to be a fun match, I think."
On serve in the opening set, Ivanovic cracked a winner and then celebrated by unleashing a furious double fist pump that elicited an approving roar from the crowd. That explosion of positive emotion energized both Ivanovic and the crowd and was a physical sign of how far she's come this season. During her long slump when she dropped out of the top 50, Ivanovic would often pull her adidas visor down over her face as if repulsed by her poor play.
Now, she's playing with a positive posture, showing more conviction in both her shots and celebrations.
"It's very important. That's something that I felt change over last few months," Ivanovic said. "I became a lot more positive on the court. Even if the things were not going my way, I still, you know, had a fist pump. I still tried to bring a lot of energy on the court. That kind of, you know, helps also supporters get into the match more. I felt that. I'm, you know, sticking with it."