TENNIS – Caroline Garcia beat last year’s finalist Ana Ivanovic 7-6 6-4 at the Porsche Indoor Grand Prix Grand Prix in Stuttgart scoring her third win in a row over the Serbian player this year. Diego Sampaolo
Ivanovic, who was beaten by Garcia twice in Monterrey and Indian Wells earlier this year, fought back from 3-5 in the first set before saving two set points at 6-5 in the first set to force the first set to the tie-break. The Serbian star earned three set points in the tie-break at 6-3 but Garcia reeled off five games in a row to clinch the first set with 8-6.
Garcia got the break in the third game of the second set for 2-1. She missed a match point at 5-3 but clinched the win with an ace in the next game after 1 hour and 37 minutes.
“I have done well against her but against a top player you have always to be careful about being too confident. When you beat them once, they will back after and be like: Come on. I will kill her. I just kept my tactics. Against her you have to play aggressive and it worked out. ”, said Garcia
After reaching the final in Brisbane last January Ivanovic was knocked out in the first round at the Australian Open and has not won a title this year.
“It was a very tough first round. We all know this is a very tough tournament but I think maybe another first round opponent could have been better The last times we played this year were back to back, so that was kind of déjà vu, but now I felt it was different, especially being on clay. It’s never nice to play someone so tough in the first round ”, said Ivanovic.
Carla Suarez Navarro, the third Spanish player to reach the top-10 and recent finalist in Miami, lost the second set at the tie-brek after leading 5-3 but recovered to beat Evgenia Rodina with 6-4 6-7 (5-7) 6-4. Suarez Navarro failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the second set before wasting a 5-4 lead on her serve in the tie-break
Ekaterina Makarova, semifinalist this year at the Australian Open, edged past Bethanie Matthek Sands 6-4 7-6 (7-3). Lucie Safarova overcame Kateryna Bondarenko 7-6 (10-8) 6-4. Garbine Muguruza led 5-2 in the second set but lost two games in a row before clinching the win over Barbora Strkova with 6-1 6-4. Muguruza will take on Simona Halep in the next round
US Madison Brengle beat Italian lucky loser Alberta Brianti 6-4 6-4.
The Porsche Indoor Grand Prix features eight of the top 10 players in the world including three-time Stuttgart champion Maria Sharapova, Simona Halep, Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniacki.
