Ivanovic triumphs at German Open
Ana Ivanovic secured the third title of her career as she fought back to beat Svetlana Kuznetsova
in the final of the German Open in Berlin on Sunday.
The 19-year-old Serbian beat third seed Kuznetsova of Russia 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7-4).
Kuznetsova had earlier beaten world number one Justine Henin in a rain-interrupted semi-final.
"I cannot say I was very fresh," said Kuznetsova. "The third set was tough. The final was a minus,
but there were more pluses."
Ivanovic overcame a foot injury and had her foot taped in the second set.
"It was so painful in the third set that I went for a lot quickly, trying to hit winners fast," said
Ivanovic.
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It was very dangerous actually and everyone was scared
they were going to get injured
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"But I'm just amazed to win. I didn't expect this. I just want to enjoy the moment."
The teenager will be in the top 10 on Monday when the new rankings are released.
"That has been my goal for some time now so I am very happy," Ivanovic said. "I now have more expectations
for the French Open, but I don't want to put pressure on myself."
The tournament was repeatedly disrupted by bad weather and Henin in particular suffered - she was on
court for the fifth time in three days on Sunday.
Play was suspended on Saturday with Kuznetsova 3-2 up in the final set and she completed a 6-4 5-7
6-4 win.
On Saturday evening Kuznetsova had failed to serve out the match at 5-3 in the second set, but on Sunday
morning's resumption Henin's seventh double fault of the match gifted Kuznetsova a match point in game nine.
A wayward backhand followed to see the Belgian's hopes of a fourth Berlin title dashed.
"This was the toughest week I ever had - it's been bizarre," said Henin. "It was very hard mentally,
physically. Today I was missing some energy, some legs on the court."
Henin said she was pleased to come through a week of wind and rain unscathed.
"It was very dangerous actually and everyone was scared they were going to get injured," she said.
"I had a lot of difficult moments but I just kept fighting."
The Belgian will now take two weeks off to rest and train ahead of her attempt to win a fourth French
Open title in Paris at the end of the month.
"I'm glad because I had a good preparation here and a lot of matches on the clay and that's good for
the French," she said.