Ana Ivanovic has been bundled out of Australian Open 2009, going down in one of the matches of the tournament to Russian No. 29 seed Alisa Kleybanova, who won 7-5 6-7(5) 6-2.
Ivanovic, the 2008 women’s singles finalist, drew upon all her fighting qualities over nearly three hours at Hisense Arena, but was ultimately powerless against the sheer force of Kleybanova’s game.
The pair exchanged a number of tense baseline rallies, with the Russian’s power often proving the difference as she sent 36 winners past Ivanovic.
After the match, Kleybanova described the win as “the best match in my career so far”.
“It's just great to play one of the matches like this. I’m so happy that I pulled through, because it was not just a win, but I really felt that I played almost my best tennis today.
It was so exciting to be out there,” she said.
“We live our life to be there and to play on this court, and for all those people that came to watch. Just the feelings that you get out there was amazing today. It was just so great for me today.”
Kleybanova’s intention to attack was evident from the outset.
Her first two of 20 break points for the match came in the fifth game of the first set, although she squandered both with errors.
Despite Kleybanova looking more likely to break serve as the set progressed, it was Ivanovic who opened up a 5-3 lead against the run of play.
She squandered her advantage when serving for the set, however; a double fault handing the break back to Kleybanova.
Pressing again, the Russian took a 6-5 lead and closed the set with a ripping forehand winner.
“After the first set, I really felt that I can go forward and just try to stay in the match and play until I can win it,” Kleybanova said.
The Russian went into the second set full of confidence, quickly breaking for a 3-0 lead and looking on top of her game.
In contrast, the Serbian world No. 5 looked despondent and increasingly shaky on serve.
Ivanovic managed to scrap her way back into the set, though, levelling at 3-3 and saving match points when down 4-5.
She forced the set into a tiebreaker that proved to be as tense as any played during this year’s Australian Open.
Both players remained evenly matched until Ivanovic took advantaged of the slightest of openings when up 6-5 – a smash sealing the set and sending the match into a decider.
Rather than going into her shell, Kleybanova held her mettle, breaking Ivanovic’s serve and holding points to go up 4-0.
Almost inevitably, Ivanovic fought back for 3-2 on serve, but in a crucial sixth game dumped a forehand into the net on break point.
By this stage, the match seemed to be exhausted of twists; Kleybanova held steady to serve it out and claim the biggest victory of her career.
Quick facts
Ivanovic made 50 unforced errors to Kleybanova’s 44, 24 of which came in the opening set alone
The Russian had 36 winners to the Serbian’s 23
Kleybanova’s fastest first serve was timed at 185km/h
Ivanovic won six of the seven points when she approached the net; Kleybanova was 23-for-30 (77 per cent) on net approaches
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