WTA Tour - Ivanovic and Zvonareva through

Eurosport - Thu, 23 Oct 23:26:00 2008

Top seeds Ana Ivanovic and Vera Zvonareva claimed straight-set victories to reach the quarter-finals of the Linz Open.

TENNIS Ana Ivanovic Serbia - 0

Number one seed Ivanovic of Serbia overcame a strong but inconsistent challenge from Austrian left-hander Sybille Bammer to win 6-4 6-2, while Russia's Zvonareva took just 53 minutes to defeat Nuria Llagostera Vives of Spain 6-2 6-0.

Ivanovic had struggled since winning the French Open but she returned to form last week in Zurich, reaching the semi-finals.

She maintained that form against Bammer, playing aggressively and looking for opportunities to come to the net, although it took her time to get into her stride.

Ivanovic broke to lead 1-0 but then allowed Bammer to level at 2-2. The next two games also went against serve, before Ivanovic faced another break point that would have left Bammer serving for the set at 5-3.

The Serb held off the threat with a high backhand volley, and went on to break Bammer to lead 5-4 before closing out the set with an ace.

Ivanovic looked more comfortable in the second set, moving better and showing more consistency. Although Bammer engaged her in several competitive rallies, it was usually the Austrian who made the error.

A double-fault gave Ivanovic a break for 2-1 and a further break for 5-2 left her serving for victory, and she once again claimed the set with an ace.

"I'm very happy with the way I played today," Ivanovic said. "She's a tough opponent. She brings a lot of balls back and makes you work hard for your points, so to have a victory like this in two sets is definitely good."

Zvonareva experienced little resistance from Llagostera Vives, with her aggressive baseline game often forcing errors.

The Russian broke twice to lead 5-1, and although she netted a backhand to lose the next game she broke once more for the set. The second set was entirely one-sided, and ended when the Spaniard hit her fifth double-fault.

Sixth seed Marion Bartoli also progressed after struggling to overcome Czech qualifier Petra Kvitova 7-6 1-6 6-3 and fifth seed Nadia Petrova beat Katarina Srebotnik 6-4 7-6.

Fourth seed Patty Schnyder was upset 6-2 2-6 6-1 by Alona Bondarenko, but seventh seed Flavia Pennetta beat Dominika Cibulkova 6-3 6-1.

Reuters

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  1. sweetie VERA ZVONAREVA for the millions euros ­ thrown around in Doha
    win or lose just collect a­ million or two for Xmas presents

    From jestyn.thyme, on Sat 25 Oct 1:54PM

  2. AT LAST WE HAVE A PLAYER WHO IS IS FINE CREDIT TO HER­ COUNTRY
    ONE WE CAN HAPPILY SUPPORT FOR SUCCESS
    PEACEFUL­ WEEKEND AHEAD

    From Lucie D, on Sat 25 Oct 11:51AM

  3. I AGREE WITH MESSAGE NUMBER 12 ANY ONE OF THE TOP TEN­ COULD BECOME NUMBER ONE AT MOMENT.ALSO SINCE MY IDOL­ JUSTINE HENIN RETIRED WTA TOUR HAS GONE IN TO­ MELTDOWN.
    KEEP GOING ANA ALL THE VERY BEST FOR REST OF­ THE YEAR AND 09.
    ALISON MERRITT

    From AJ, on Fri 24 Oct 5:52PM

  4. Flavia Penetta is playing very well lately. I would not­ be surprised if she caused some upsets or won the title­ outright. Ivanovic is still finding her way. She is not­ match sharp yet. However, she can not afford to sit out­ any tournaments or play poorly as she has done­ recently. Since women's tennis is so­ erratic,Ivanovic is capable of becoming number one once­ again. As a matter of fact, ANY player in the Top Ten­ can reach the top spot with a string of quality wins.­ Justin Henin's early retirement sent women's­ tennis into choas !!

    From Tim, on Fri 24 Oct 10:26AM

  5. Ana, Srbija je uz tebe...samo napred!!!

    From Danijel, on Fri 24 Oct 10:07AM

  6. ADORABLE ANA IVANOVIC .,., v ,.,SWEETIE VERA­ ZVONAREVA

    FOR ENJOYABLE ENTERTAINING FINAL PLEASE ===­ WITH NO DISPUTES INCL

    From salsa747, on Fri 24 Oct 8:13AM

  7. WELL DONE TO FINEST FROM HER HOMELAND

    GOOD LUCK FOR­ FINAL APPEARANCE

    From salsa747, on Fri 24 Oct 7:54AM

  8. go ana!!!you are the best.macedonia love you

    From Tose G, on Thu 23 Oct 11:03PM

  9. Whichone is better at the momenth of those two, will be­ no. 1, and all around, and on and on again. Is`t like­ that :-)
    Go Jelena, go Ana :-)

    From Igor K, on Thu 23 Oct 10:22PM

  10. Well, I'd much rather see the #1 ranking go to the­ Serb who plays the more spectacular tennis, is better­ looking, and has won a Major!

    From Andrew Broad, on Thu 23 Oct 9:59PM

  11. we trust Ana will not again accept the tarnished trophy­ of rank No 1
    it is a real poisoned chalice for any­ holder

    From simioni44, on Thu 23 Oct 7:50PM

  12. VERA ZVONAREVA looks ready for happy success

    From simioni44, on Thu 23 Oct 7:41PM

  13. good luck to adorable courteous charming ANA IVANOVIC

    From simioni44, on Thu 23 Oct 7:21PM

  14. Tough match for Ana tomorrow. Flavia is playing great­ at the moment and I'm sure that she believes in her­ win against Ivanovic. On the other hand, Ana is as­ fresh as a dazy. She didn't play too many matches­ after Roland Garros and that is something that she­ could turn into her advantage. And doesn't she look­ great these days? She lost a couple of more pounds,­ she's moving better and that is why she could be a­ huge threat in Doha.

    From Boris, on Thu 23 Oct 7:07PM

  15. ana is n the best , ­ go.................................

    From sagar, on Thu 23 Oct 7:02PM
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