Up next for Lucie Safarova? Serena Williams or Timea Bacsinszky. You can follow that here. Bye!
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“It’s a dream come true, I cannot believe it,” Safarova says. “I started today a little slowly but I tried to keep up the level and start to play really aggressive, because that was the only way to win. It’s unbelievable. Thank you so much for the support. Merci, Paris!”
Show-off.
That was a weird match. Safarova’s back is covered in clay. There are tears.
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Lucie Safarova wins 7-5, 7-5!
Here we go again. Ivanovic begins by swinging hard, a cross-court forehand flashing past Safarova. 0-15. Is it happening again? Maybe not, you know. Soon it’s 30-15, two Ivanovic errors edging Safarova closer to the finishing line. Then Safarova steps into a backhand and wellies it past Ivanovic to earn two more match points! Her first serve is a let. She’ll have another go. It’s in, they rally, Safarova knocks a forehand long. That’s another one in the bin. But she has one more. She sends a serve out wide. Ivanovic’s return is inviting. Safarova opens up her body, takes her time and then bashes a forehand into the opposite corner! She’s done it! She’s actually done it! Lucie Safarova has beaten Ana Ivanovic to reach her first grand slam semi-final!
Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 5-6 Safarova (*denotes server): Ivanovic has her hands on her hips after netting a tame forehand for 15-30. Moments later, she’s pumping her fists after a stunning cross-court backhand makes it 30-all. Safarova sees that shot, though, and raises it with a splendid forehand down the line. She has a break point! And Ivanovic sneezes a forehand wide! Safarova will serve for the match again! My guess is as good as yours.
Second set: Ivanovic 5-7, 5-5 Safarova* (*denotes server): Okay, Lucie, win this game and you are in your French Open final. No pressure. Just don’t think about it too mu... oh, you’ve started with a double fault. Okay. Okay. No point making it straightforward. 0-15. 0-15 becomes 0-30 when she sends a forehand wide. Hmm. This is worrying for the Czech. She wills herself to 30-all, Ivanovic letting her off the hook with a lame backhand return off a second serve and then hitting long after a wrongfooting forehand, but a double-fault from Safarova makes it 30-40. She must have an empty feeling in her stomach. Her legs must feel like jelly. Breathe. She serves. Ivanovic nets a forehand! She’s had chances. It’s deuce. A cagey rally ensues. It ends with Ivanovic netting another forehand ... and Safarova has her first match point! What a struggle to reach this point. She nets a first serve. And her second serve goes long! Oh dear. She follows that calamity up by dragging a backhand wide. Here’s another break point. But it’s Ivanovic’s turn to sink to her knees after netting a forehand. Deuce. Then she whips a brilliant forehand down the line to earn another break point. Don’t bother trying to make any sense of this. Logic and reason left the building some time ago. Safarova saves it, but then she’s forced to hit a backhand wide on the run. Another break point. And this time, a Safarova backhand clips the top of the net and squirts wide. That’s quite the choke.
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Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 4-5 Safarova (*denotes server): They’re going forehand for forehand now. Ivanovic does enough to squeeze a hold to 30. But now Safarova will serve for the match.
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Second set: Ivanovic 5-7, 3-5 Safarova* (*denotes server): A laser-guided missile of a forehand from Safarova makes it 40-15. What are nerves? Oh. These are nerves. Two mistakes bring it to deuce. It’s deuce for a while. But Safarova knuckles down. She steels herself. She grits her teeth. The lot. She’s stubborn. She’s not letting go of this. Ivanovic’s defence is brilliant but Safarova finds a way through. She’s a game away from the French Open final.
Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 3-4 Safarova (*denotes server): The pair of them trade outstanding winners at the start of the game. It’s 30-all. It’s tense. A break here and Safarova is almost there. But she can’t break. Ivanovic skelps a backhand away for 40-30 and Safarova then splutters a backhand return long.
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Second set: Ivanovic 5-7, 2-4 Safarova* (*denotes server): Momentum, eh? A double-fault from Safarova, followed by a blistering forehand winner from Ivanovic, and it’s 0-30. Having looked down and out five minutes ago, Ivanovic could be about to claw her way back into this. The game goes to deuce and Ivanovic is bouncing up and down on the baseline as Safarova prepares to serve. Safarova is edgy. Yet she keeps the jitters at bay, rattling a forehand away for game point. Ivanovic then nets a forehand and Safarova holds. She’s two games away. That took resolve.
Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 2-3 Safarova (*denotes server): Ivanovic has to hold here. She has to hold. She has to not serve double-faults. She serves a double-fault at 30-all. Break point. Match point? Maybe. But Safarova, whose game is all or nothing, spoons a backhand long. Deuce. That could turn out to be a big moment. Ivanovic holds with a brutal cross-court backhand. Has she just rediscovered her mojo?
Second set: Ivanovic 5-7, 1-3 Safarova* (*denotes server): Safarova clambering is all over Ivanovic now, like a cat that really, really, really, would like you to get off the sofa and give it some lunch now. She holds to love. Ivanovic is fading fast. It’s looking grim for the world No7.
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Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 1-2 Safarova (*denotes server): Losing games like that won’t do much for Ivanovic’s confidence. Nor will a double-fault at the start of this one. 0-15. You sense that while Ivanovic has been gripped by doubt, Safarova is beginning to believe. A forehand winner down the line makes it 0-30 and she has three break points when Ivanovic belts an appalling forehand long. There’s a spot of drama on the first point. Ivanovic misses a first serve and then Safarova spanks the second past her. Game? No. There’s confusion. Was the serve called out? Ivanovic seems to think so. The umpire comes down to check and decides that the serve was good, so the point will have to be replayed. Safarova isn’t entirely happy but there’s no point arguing, even though Hawkeye reveals that the serve was actually out. If they used it at this tournament, that would have been the game. But they don’t. And Ivanovic, given a reprieve, ends up winning the point. But she doesn’t win the next one. Justice is done when she drifts a backhand slice wide. Safarova is four games from the French Open final.
Second set: Ivanovic 5-7, 1-1 Safarova* (*denotes server): Safarova can’t rid herself of those double faults. The game goes to deuce. Ivanovic senses that she could be about to break. She’s revving the engine again. A smooth forehand winner into the corner brings up a break point. Safarova was 30-0 up at one point. She saves it with an ace out wide, but she has to do it again when Ivanovic pushes Safarova back behind the baseline with a series of loopers, and then crack a low forehand into the corner. Is the pressure beginning to tell? Maybe, but Safarova is doing all she can to hold Ivanovic off, and she wins the point with a punchy forehand. She wins the game with an ace. Oof. That was impressive.
Second set: Ivanovic* 5-7, 1-0 Safarova (*denotes server): Ivanovic must be furious with herself after the way she let the first set slip away. She was in control. Then she wasn’t. It all happened in a blur. Still, she’ll feel better after holding here.
Lucie Safarova wins the first set 7-5!
Ivanovic is suffering from an attack of the yips. She should win the first point of this game, only to put a simple backhand volley into the net. Oh dear. The crowd gasps and Safarova is showing no mercy. Her forehand has turned into an awesome weapon now. It’s 30-0. A big serve gives her three set points. She only needs one. Ivanovic wallops a return long and the first set is Safarova’s! What a turnaround!
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First set: Ivanovic* 5-6 Safarova (*denotes server): The complexion of the match has noticeably altered. Ivanovic is tightening up badly out there. Two double-faults from Ivanovic make it 15-30, before she nets a forehand to offer up two break points. Safarova is ruthless. A huge backhand return is too hot for Ivanovic to handle and Safarova breaks again! Now she’ll serve for the first set.
First set: Ivanovic 5-5 Safarova* (*denotes server): But Ivanovic knows that the set is hers if she wins this game and she’s two points away from it when she dominates with a forehand for 30-all. Yet Safarova responds superbly, an ace making it 40-30. She holds when Ivanovic misses a forehand return. Ivanovic needs to be careful now.
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First set: Ivanovic* 5-4 Safarova (*denotes server): This has been a breeze for Ivanovic so far, but it’s never easy to close out a set in matches of this much significance. And sure enough, she’s wobbling a little after Safarova whips a forehand past her for 15-30. Ivanovic then nets a forehand to give Safarova her first break points of the match. Safarova wastes the first break point with a crummy backhand return, but having treated us to the ridiculous, she then treats us to the sublime, a stunning backhand return leaving Ivanovic in a mess at the back of the court. Safarova charges forward and puts an easy forehand away. She breaks.
First set: Ivanovic 5-3 Safarova* (*denotes server): The new balls are out and Safarova is serving to keep the opening set alive. She holds to 15 easily. Over to you, Ana.
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First set: Ivanovic* 5-2 Safarova (*denotes server): This has the feel of a crucial game, Ivanovic perhaps vulnerable after failing to take those break points. But my theory is quickly ripped apart by Ivanovic, who strides into a 40-15 lead thanks to some excellent serving. But Safarova pieces it back together, fighting back to 40-30, and then forcing deuce with a rasping backhand return. Yet the errors are piling up from Safarova. Ivanovic holds after two more missed backhands.
First set: Ivanovic 4-2 Safarova* (*denotes server): The rally of the match at 15-0. Ivanovic dictates the majority of it, pinging shots left and right, but Safarova suddenly seizes the initiative away from her and wins it with a cracking forehand. But errors are creeping into Safarova’s game and after a double-fault, it’s 30-all. Seen this one before. From 30-0 up, soon it’s 30-40, Safarova wonking a backhand long. It’s effectively a set point. Ivanovic nets a forehand return - deuce - but she has another break point when another Safarova backhand misses its target. Safarova survives again, but she’s having trouble finishing off the game. It’s deuce for a while. She wriggles clear eventually, though. Meanwhile it sounds like Serena Williams isn’t feeling too well.
Clearly not well and zero energy from Serena in warm up - more coughing Into a towel @EurosportUKTV pic.twitter.com/uoKABAfyCF
— Annabel Croft (@Annabel_Croft) June 4, 2015
First set: Ivanovic* 4-1 Safarova (*denotes server): This is perfection from Ivanovic so far. A big forehand winner gets her to 15-0, two consecutive aces to 40-0. She holds to 15 when Safarova whistles a forehand wide.
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First set: Ivanovic 3-1 Safarova* (*denotes server): Safaraova steadies herself with a brilliant looping inside-out forehand for 30-0. She’s been in this position before, though, and look what happened. But this time, there are no gimmes. Two errant shots from Ivanovic and Safarova is on the board.
First set: Ivanovic* 3-0 Safarova (*denotes server): Ivanovic’s forehand is purring. She holds to 15 again. What a start from the former champion!
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First set: Ivanovic 2-0 Safarova* (*denotes server): Safarova skips into a 30-0 lead but two poor points, a shanked backhand and a double-fault, lets Ivanovic back into the game. Ivanovic loops the ball up the middle repeatedly and it draws another error from Safarova, who hits long, giving up the first break point of the afternoon. She looks concerned. She salvages the situation with an ace, but Ivanovic carves out another opportunity by drilling a forehand down the line. Safarova attacks. It’s positive play from the Czech but she’s repelled by some outstanding defence from Ivanovic. Eventually Safarova is drawn to the net and a sloppy volley drops wide. Ivanovic breaks. That was a gift from Safarova.
First set: Ivanovic* 1-0 Safarova (*denotes server): It’s Ana Ivanovic to get the first semi-final of the day underway and she starts well. Three straight points, including a thumping forehand winner up the line, gives her a 40-0 lead. She holds to 15. Solid.
By the by, the schedule is out for the men’s semi-finals tomorrow. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Stanislas Wawrinka are on first, Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic are on second.
Lucie Safarova has a 5-3 winning record in her head-to-head with Ana Ivanovic. What’s more, she beat Ivanovic 6-3, 6-3 in the third round here last year. They’re one-all at Roland Garros, mind you, Ivanovic winning 6-1, 6-2 when they met in the second round in 2008.
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The players are out. It’s warm in Paris. But not as warm as it’s going to be tomorrow. Or as wet, the forecast says.
Preamble
Hello. Welcome back, Ana Ivanovic. It’s been a while. Seven years ago, the world was her oyster. She won her first major, beating Dinara Safina in straight sets in the final of the French Open, and she soared up the rankings to become the world No1. A new star had announced herself. Or so it seemed. As it turns out, Ivanovic’s career hasn’t quite panned out as planned. She has admitted that she is struggled to cope with the pressure and the attention that stalked her in the wake of her first grand slam triumph and other than a quarter-final at the US Open in 2012, her results have largely been disappointing.
Until now. Is she maturing? More comfortable in her own skin? Back at the scene of former glories, Ivanovic has played some fine tennis over the past fortnight and the world No7 is one game away from rolling back the years and reaching the final of the French Open again? Standing in her way, though, is the talented Czech left-hander, Lucie Safarova, a late bloomer who has improved markedly in the past year. The world No13 reached her first grand slam semi-final at Wimbledon last year, and now she’s in her second. She’s 28 years old. It’s never too late. Let’s play some tennis.
Play begins: soon.
