TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Ivanovic, Safina In Final

ADVERTISEMENT

By HOWARD FENDRICH

The Associated Press

Published: June 6, 2008

PARIS - If official statistics were tallied for fist pumps and self-exhortations during Grand Slam matches, Ana Ivanovic might well have established a record while winning her French Open semifinal.

Perhaps Ivanovic did not raise a clenched hand and let out a yelp after each of the 96 points she earned. It sure did seem that way to the woman she beat 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 Thursday, Jelena Jankovic, who mocked the gesture at least twice, drawing guffaws from fans.

The winner was assured of replacing Maria Sharapova at No. 1 in the rankings, in addition to earning a berth in Saturday's championship match against 13th-seeded Dinara Safina. The younger sister of two-time major champion Marat Safin followed up her twin escape-from-match-point-down, three-set upsets of Sharapova and No. 7 Elena Dementieva with a straightforward 6-3, 6-2 victory against No. 4 Svetlana Kuznetsova to reach her first Grand Slam final.

"I won in two sets," Safina said with a smile. "That's strange for me."

The No. 2-seeded Ivanovic and No. 3 Jankovic produced a seesaw struggle filled with stretches of alternately brilliant and bad play.

In today's men's semifinals, it's No. 1 Roger Federer vs. unseeded Gael Monfils, and No. 2 Rafael Nadal vs. No. 3 Novak Djokovic.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT