The glamorous 20-year-old Serbian beats Kuznetsova, 6-4, 6-3, to win women's title at Pacific Life Open in Indian Wells.

The Serbian with the cover girl looks continued to demonstrate Sunday that she can play, too.Ana Ivanovic, 20 years old and already No. 2 in the world, won the women's singles title in the Pacific Life Open on Sunday, in front of 15,860 fans at a nearly sold-out Indian Wells Tennis Garden. She beat Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova, 6-4, 6-3.

Ivanovic's looks, and sometimes even her personality, are discussed as much as her tennis. She was labeled as "more quiet" a few days ago by the other Serbian women's star, Jelena Jankovic.

Whether or not that label is correct for Ivanovic, it certainly works in comparison to Jankovic.Interestingly, Ivanovic's victory over Kuznetsova allowed Jankovic, who lost to Ivanovic in the semifinals, to move past Kuznetsova to No. 3 in the rankings.On the day Jankovic called her fellow Serbian star "more quiet" and said that she, Jankovic, tended "to speak my mind a lot," Jankovic spoke her mind a lot.

She charmed the press with descriptions of her shopping tendencies (a $4,000 Louis Vuitton purse, bought when she was with her father because her mother would never let her get away with that)."I like to swipe my card," she said.Also, she talked about the land she bought recently in Rancho Santa Fe. (She told reporters where it was, then told them they couldn't write that, then invited them to come for a party once her house was built, then told them they couldn't get in because it was a gated community.)

Ivanovic, three years younger than Jankovic, is certainly direct, if not as flamboyant as her countrywoman."I'm a big fighter and I hate to lose," Ivanovic said Sunday. ". . . I felt I was doing much better as I progressed here. . . . I didn't get upset about some mistakes that I would usually get upset about."She didn't make many in the final. She got her first serve in 71% of the time, had 30 winners to Kuznetsova's 14 and was better in aces hit, 5-0.

Ivanovic got the service break in the second set at 3-3, then served it to 5-3 with a quick love game.Serving to stay in the match, Kuznetsova double-faulted to love-30, then Ivanovic got it to match point, 15-40, with a cross-court backhand winner. On her second match point, she took Kuznetsova's 92-mph serve and slapped a forehand winner.Ivanovic entered the tournament with year-to-date earnings of $664,690, much of that from her second-place finish to Maria Sharapova at the Australian Open in January. Sunday's winner's check of $332,000 left her just shy of being a three-month millionaire, with $996,690.

Kuznetsova made $163,000 for her No. 2 finish, a spot that has become quite familiar to her. She could easily become a poster person for Avis.The 2004 U.S. Open champion, Kuznetsova has now lost eight of her last nine finals on the WTA tour.

The one she won in the streak was last August at New Haven, Conn., when her opponent defaulted midway through the match."It's not that it is the finals," she said. "It's just she played better than me. That's it."

------The final attendance for this two-week event was 331,269, about 28,000 above last year's record. This is the best-attended non-Grand Slam tennis event in the world.

Novak Djokovic and Ana Ivanovic scored a Serbian clean sweep yesterday, winning the titles at the Pacific Life Open and taking home $887,000 between them.
Supported by a small gaggle of loud and enthusiastic Serb fans, the two wasted little time in getting the better of their opponents. Djokovic beat Mardy Fish 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 and Ivanovic dismissed Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4, 6-3.
Fish was still reeling from his startling win over Roger Federer on Saturday and for the first set was incapable of doing anything right. Djokovic allowed him a little leeway in the second set but after repelling break points on his own serve at the start of the third set, the Serb broke immediately and headed for the winner's podium.
Even so, the ambitious perfectionist was not happy with his day's work. ''I didn't keep my patience," he said. ''I don't know why."
Ivanovic needed a few rounds here to settle her nerves but once she got to the final and spied Kuznetsova, she soon settled to her task.
Pounding the ball with muscle and purpose, she hit the corners time after time, leaving Kuznetsova to flap her racket at shadows.

Labels: Ana Ivanovic, Indian Wells, Novak Djokovic

STUTTGART, Germany Ana Ivanovic joined the long list of injury withdrawals from the Porsche Grand Prix tournament.

The Serb hurt her shoulder in practice Sunday and pulled out of the US$650,000 event starting Monday.

Other players who withdrew earlier included Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Serena and Venus Williams.

Amelie Mauresmo is the top-seeded player, followed by Svetlana Kuznetsova, Elena Dementieva and Nadia Petrova. They all have a bye into the second round.

Venus Williams defeated Ana Ivanovic 6-3, 6-4 Wednesday to reach the second round of the Fortis Championships.

The 54th-ranked Williams overcame problems with her serve to beat the 15th-ranked Ivanovic in 71 minutes. Williams will play Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Mara Santangelo 5-7, 7-6 (8), 6-3 in a match that lasted 2 hours, 26 minutes.

Top-seeded Elena Dementieva of Russia won a second-round match, beating Australia's Samantha Stosur 7-5, 6-1.

In other second-round matches, third-seeded Patty Schnyder defeated Chanda Rubin 6-0, 6-3, fourth-seeded Dinara Safina beat Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-3, and Kveta Peschke edged Karin Knapp 6-4, 6-4.

Bali, Indonesia - Ana Ivanovic and Daniela Hantuchova both slumped to first round defeats at the Bali International on Tuesday.

Fourth seeded Ivanovic was beaten 6-3 4-6 6-2 by 103rd-ranked Russian Olga Poutchkova, and fifth seed Hantuchova fell 7-5 6-2 to 82nd-ranked Melinda Czink of Hungary.

Defending champion Lindsay Davenport survived a strong challenge from Russian Galina Voskoboeva before winning 7-5 6-1.

Ivanovic never looked comfortable against Poutchkova, although the Serb had opportunities to turn the match around.

Her first chance came when she held two break points to recover to 4-5 in the opening set, and the next came when she broke to take the second set and level the match.

But she struggled with her serve throughout the match and was unable to offer a consistent challenge.

"I'm very disappointed with my game today," said Ivanovic.

"I played a lot of tennis the last couple of weeks, and coming here I didn't have time to adapt to the conditions."

Hantuchova held the upper hand in the early stages to build a 5-2 lead before squandering three set points on Czink's serve.

The missed opportunities seemed to derail the Slovakian and she dropped her next two service games, both with a double-fault, before Czink then held off a break point when leading 6-5 to serve out for the opening set.

Three breaks of serve at the start of the second set left Czink leading 2-1 and a fine backhand drive gave her a further break for a decisive 5-2 lead.

"I missed three easy shots in a row and never put her under pressure on those set points, and that's where things started to go in a bad direction," said Hantuchova.

Davenport was undeterred by bats sweeping over the court, but was unsettled by the strength of her opponent's serve and several fiercely-struck winners down the line before eventually taking charge with her power game.

After breaking for 7-5 with a forehand winner that landed on the line and was disputed by Voskoboeva, the 30-year-old American took control of the second set.

"At the beginning she was hitting a lot of winners and hitting the balls hard and short points, and I didn't feel I was quite ready to combat all that," Davenport told reporters.

NEW YORK - Now, Serena Williams faces the consequences of having sat out most of this year nursing her sore knee and pursuing her other passions.

Then again, maybe not.

Playing just her fourth tournament of 2006 and consequently unseeded here, Williams completed a seed-mocking first week of her U.S. Open by overpowering up-and-comer Ana Ivanovic, the 16th seed, on Sunday evening, 6-2, 6-4. Her reward: a fourth-round match on Monday night with the No. 1 seed, Amelie Mauresmo.

That's the kind of match a player of Williams' ability and resume normally wouldn't face until at least the quarterfinals, if not later. Without her usual high seed to delay such a test, the wild card Williams gets it now.

But after Sunday's rain-juggled "day" session finally was completed, it became reasonable to wonder whether it was Williams or the wobbly Mauresmo who should be cursing the luck of her draw.

"I don't think any draw is tough," Williams said, understandably confident after a one-hour, six-minute triumph. "For me, it's only as tough as you make it. I've played all these players before. You're going to have to play them at some point anyway."

Mauresmo was a point away from falling behind 0-3 in the third set last night. But Italian Mara Santangelo watched in disbelief as her relatively easy passing shot sailed well long.

Thusly reprieved, Mauresmo didn't look back. She won that game to begin a match-closing, scissor-kicking string of six straight victorious games in a 6-3 3-6 6-2 triumph that created the fourth-round showdown.

Williams required no such mid-match wakeup call. Remarkably efficient from the start (just 17 unforced errors in 18 games) given her lack of recent match play, Williams unleashed a power game in the first set that the hard-hitting Ivanovic wasn't ready to handle. Settling down to her task in the second set, the winner of the 2006 U.S. Open Series rifled a slew of return winners off Williams' second serve to break for 3-3.

But Williams immediately broke back and then put the hammer down to end a day that had begun in unexpectedly draining fashion - with an emotional viewing of Andre Agassi's farewell.

"We were crying," Williams said, recalling the way she admired Agassi as a kid. "He was everything I aspired to be, not only on the court but off the court, because he had this great charity going on and he seemed always to be a person that had this great personality.

"At one point I had to calm down. I was like: `OK, I'm crying harder than Andre here.' Really ridiculous. I had to pull back and realize, `I'm not retiring. Andre is.' "

On the contrary, having blurred through six sets to get to the fourth round, Williams is coming back with a vengeance. And serving notice that no opponent should be fooled by her lack of a seeding.

"As I said before, I don't think anybody sees my name next to theirs and they're really excited," she said.

HARDER THEY FALL: Russia's Nadia Petrova became the highest women's seed eliminated. The fifth seed fell to Tatiana Golovin of France, 7-5, 6-7, 6-3. . . . Mary Pierce, the 13th seed who made it to the 2005 final, fell to 24th-seeded Na Li of China, 4-6 6-0 6-0.

NEW YORK -- Four years ago, on her way to her first U.S. Open junior tournament, Ana Ivanovic spotted Russia's Marat Safin on an airport concourse and asked the 2000 Open champion to pose for a photo with her.

She still has the snapshot, but the 17th-seeded Ivanovic is no longer a star-struck neophyte. She's playing her former idols, and more than holding her own. Two Mondays ago, she drubbed Martina Hingis in the final in Montreal to win her first big tournament (she also won an Australian Open tuneup in 2005), taking Hingis apart in a match that lasted less than an hour.

"She saw Hingis win a lot of those Grand Slams as a kid, so for her to mentally be able to put herself in such a calm position throughout the whole match and deal with the emotion of winning such a big match was a huge step," said her coach, Australian David Taylor. "Ana's a player who's always had two or three great wins a week, but never five or six to win a tournament. Winning a title, there's a real permanence about it. That's helped her a lot."

The slender 6-foot Serbian is preparing to take on her second multiple Grand Slam winner in as many weeks -- Serena Williams, who appears to be fit and primed for a U.S. Open run, and can likely count on vocal crowd support in her third-round match. The two have never played.

"I had a kind of a tough draw, but when I saw the direction, I was really looking forward to that match," Ivanovic said. "It's going to be tough. She plays so fast."

But Ivanovic doesn't intend to play defensively. "The more I come into the net, the less time I give her to run and make a good shot," she said.

Ivanovic has a habit of narrowing her eyes into an intense squint as she sways on the baseline, awaiting her opponent's serve. It's symbolic of her growing ability to focus point-by-point, reducing her world to the present moment rather than allowing emotion to derail her.

She's progressed spectacularly fast in less than two years on the women's tour, starting unranked in early 2004 and rising to a career-high No. 17. She has twice defeated current No. 1 Amelie Mauresmo -- upending her last year in the third round of the French Open -- and also reached the quarterfinals at Indian Wells and Miami.

Taylor, the Aussie Fed Cup coach who has worked with Ivanovic since earlier this year, said one of his biggest challenges is saving her from her own enthusiasm. She spent a month this winter in Australia, where she has extended family.

"She's obviously familiar with a lot of our colloquialisms and the culture we have is quite a relaxed culture," Taylor said. "That fits in well with her. She sometimes gets too motivated and it's good for her to relax a little bit.

"You have to hold her back a lot. We started out doing fitness for two weeks, three sessions a day. I expected by October she'd be able to go longer in tournaments without having fatigue. She's a bit ahead of where I thought she'd be.

"Things change quickly and I think for her, she really believes she's one of the better girls. Having a sense of belonging is a big thing."

Ivanovic was born precocious. She clearly recalls watching fellow Serbian Monica Seles on television when she was 5 years old and writing down the phone number of a tennis school that was advertised during a commercial break in the match. She pestered her parents, a lawyer and an economist, until they enrolled her.

Her recent success could make her the object of a bidding war between two tennis federations.

Ivanovic plays under the flag of Serbia and Montenegro, the conjoined republics that were part of the former Yugoslavia. In May, the citizens of Montenegro voted to separate from Serbia. Ivanovic and other players, including 20th-ranked Jelena Jankovic and, on the men's side, No. 23 Novak Djokovic, have until the end of the year to decide which country they want to represent.

"Each federation wants all of us to play for them," said Ivanovic. She has split loyalties -- her father was born in Montenegro and she grew up in Belgrade -- and has yet to choose between them.

She'll only up the ante if she's able to handle Williams.

NEW YORK -- Andre Agassi tugged at the heartstrings of New Yorkers one more time last night by defeating Marcos Baghdatis 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5 in their U.S. Open second match.

The American, 36, who has announced he will retire at the end of the tournament, kept his dreams alive with a sensational effort against the valiant Cypriot.

Baghdatis surely expected a boisterous, partisan crowd in Arthur Ashe Stadium, but the reality of the 23,712 who were present was probably beyond his imagining.

There were chants of "We love you Andre" and, when he won the game to go ahead 5-3 in the second set, the wave began in Ashe Stadium as the New York faithful sensed that their chosen one was closing in on a win.
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Agassi dominated the first two sets, survived a fierce comeback by Baghdatis in the third and fourth sets to finally close out the match in the fifth set after dropping serve in the opening game.

A backhand long by Baghdatis ended the three-hour and 48-minute classic encounter on Agassi's second match point.

The match came to a dramatic and crazy conclusion as Baghdatis began cramping in his left thigh in the ninth game and had trouble planting for some of his shots, and Agassi at times dealing with a diminished opponent.

After a cortisone shot for his chronic back problem Tuesday following a gruelling four-set, first-round match against Andrei Pavel on Monday, Agassi's fitness was in doubt.

He seemed uninhibited most of the match except for when Baghdatis raised his level dramatically in the third and fourth sets.

In tomorrow afternoon's third round, Agassi will play qualifier Benjamin Becker of Germany, with a potential, his health permitting, all-American round-of-16 looming on Monday against Andy Roddick.

Earlier last night, the tournament had its most notable upset thus far when Virginie Razzano of France defeated Martina Hingis 6-2, 6-4.

Ranked No. 112, Razzano outplayed the No. 9-ranked Hingis to lead 6-2, 5-1 before the Swiss mounted a late rally.

"She was very solid from both sides," Hingis said about Razzano, who is 23 and had been bothered by injuries for much of 2006. "There wasn't very much I could do sometimes." Hingis cited a tough match (4-6, 6-1, 6-3) with Peng Shuai of China on Wednesday with taking a lot out of her. "I think after yesterday [Wednesday], I didn't have much more to give. I was tired."

Hingis, 25, also said her rise to the top echelon has changed the dynamic of her matches.

"Now that I'm back in the top 10, the players have seen me around and they have nothing to lose any more, compared to when I started the year."

Summing things up, she cited a draining match with Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals of the Rogers Cup as significant. "Too much tennis," she said, "I wasn't as fresh mentally as I normally am going into a Grand Slam."

Even without Hingis, it is getting crowded in the top quarter of the women's draw. An impressive group of players are on a collision course, led by top-seed Amélie Mauresmo.

Yesterday, on a day with an alarming number of seriously one-sided matches, the world No. 1 was tested during an intense, high-quality, 6-4, 6-3 victory over Meghann Shaughnessy in 1 hour 51 minutes.

Also advancing were Ana Ivanovic, recent winner of the Rogers Cup in Montreal, and two-time U.S. Open champion Serena Williams. They will meet in a third-round encounter tomorrow, with the winner likely to play Mauresmo on Monday.

Compared to the top-seeded Mauresmo, No. 16 Ivanovic and the unseeded Williams (ranked No. 91), the event's No. 2 seed Justine Henin-Hardenne, No. 3 Maria Sharapova, No. 4 Elena Dementieva, No. 5 Nadia Petrova, No. 6 Svetlana Kuznetsova and No. 10 Lindsay Davenport had laughers. None lost more than four games, and Davenport, needing just 40 minutes, shut out Jelena Kostanic of Croatia, 6-0, 6-0.

Men's singles second seed Rafael Nadal dropped a set but still looked impressive in defeating Luis Horna of Peru 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Other winners included No. 6 seed Tommy Robredo, No. 11 David Ferre and No. 15 Lleyton Hewitt.

World No. 1 star Amelie Mauresmo posted a first-round win Wednesday at the 2006 U.S. Open.

The reigning Wimbledon, Australian Open and WTA Championships titlist Mauresmo needed two days to get past qualifier Kristina Barrois 6-1, 7-5. The match was suspended because of rain here on Tuesday, with Barrois leading 5-2 in the second set, but the top-seeded French star returned to the court to win five straight games, and the match, on Day 3 of this fortnight.

Mauresmo wound up with half as many unforced errors as her German counterpart Barrois (36-18). The high-flying Mauresmo beat Belgian stalwart Justine Henin-Hardenne in this year's Wimbledon and Aussie Open finales. Hot Serbian Ana Ivanovic needed all three sets to get past Russian Vera Dushevina 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

The US Open Series-winning Ivanovic, seeded 16th here, has won her last six matches, including a surprise title in Montreal two weeks ago, when she upended Martina Hingis in the final at the Tier I Rogers Cup. As a result of her recent US Open Series success, Ivanovic will double her prize money here in Flushing.

NEW YORK, Aug 24 (Reuters) - Following is a projection of possible opponents for the title favourites in the women's U.S. Open draw (prefix number denotes seeding).
1-AMELIE MAURESMO
Top seed Amelie Mauresmo faces a rough road ahead if she is to capture her first U.S. Open crown, especially since she has played little this summer due to a shoulder injury.
The Australian Open and Wimbledon champion is in the toughest part of the draw but should be able to win her expected second-round match against pesky American Meghann Shaughnessy and her third-rounder against fellow Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy.
But then the path to glory gets a lot rockier. In the fourth round, Mauresmo is scheduled to face either twice former champion Serena Williams or Serbian 16th seed Ana Ivanovic. Should she survive, Martina Hingis more-than-likely awaits in the quarters.
That could be followed by a Mauresmo-Maria Sharapova match in the semis.
2-JUSTINE HENIN-HARDENNE
The 2003 U.S. Open champion was sidelined for six weeks with a knee injury following her run to the Wimbledon final but has a favourable draw. The Belgian could face Japan's Ai Sugiyama in the third round and Francesca Schiavone in the fourth.
Next up should be the winner of the Patty Schnyder-Lyndsay Davenport match for the right to gain a spot in the semi-finals. The French Open holder, who showed no signs of the injury during this week's tournament in New Haven, Conn., is set for a semi-final showdown with Russian Elena Dementieva.
Mauresmo, Sharapova, Hingis and Serena are all in the other half of the draw.
4-MARIA SHARAPOVA
A U.S. Open semi-finalist a year ago, the former world number one is playing exceptionally well and has an attractive path into the semi-finals.
Sharapova will be favourite to beat fellow Russian Elena Likhovtseva in their potential third round match and get by France's Mary Pierce in the fourth. Pierce, who reached the final a year ago before losing to Kim Clijsters, made her comeback following a six-month injury layoff in San Diego and is not looking as sharp as she did in 2005.
In the quarters, Sharapova is expected to play the winner of the Nadia Petrova-Anastasia Myskina match-up.
From there, it is a tough path. Her semi-final opponent could be Mauresmo, Hingis or even Serena.
8-MARTINA HINGIS
The 25-year-old "Swiss Miss" would love another winning run at the U.S. Open following her success in 1997. She is in a very tough quarter but the five-times grand slam champion has matches she can win.
Hingis's opens against China's Peng Shuai, ranked 57th in the world. Before you think that will be a walkover, consider that Peng shocked Clijsters in straight sets last year in San Diego.
The first troublesome match for Hingis figures to be in the fourth round against 12th seed Dinara Safina, whom Hingis has beaten in straight sets in their two previous encounters.
It gets a lot stickier for Hingis in the quarters. She is likely to battle either top-ranked Mauresmo, Ivanovic -- who beat Hingis in the Montreal final -- or Serena.
A semi-final match-up with Sharapova looms.
UNSEEDED-SERENA WILLIAMS
The true 'wildcard' in the tournament, Serena could be a first-round victim or raise the championship trophy at the end of the tournament. A twice U.S. Open winner, she has oscillated between injury and disinterest over the past few years but always remains a threat.
Match-rusty Serena is ranked 90th and had to rely on a wildcard entry just to get into the main draw. Her first match is against an opponent she has never played, diminutive Spaniard Lourdes Dominguez Lino. She is then expected to run into Daniela Hantuchova but should be confident of victory considering she has beaten the Slovakian in four of their five meetings.
From there, Serena could lose any time she steps on the court. A third-round match-up with Montreal Cup winner Ivanovic could be one of the best matches of the fortnight.
If she survives, Serena will need to get by, in succession, Mauresmo, Hingis, Maria Sharapova, and then Henin-Hardenne if all top seeds live up to their billing.

Win at Rogers Cup, Combined with Loss by Schnyder at Pilot Pen Tennis, Clinches Title for Ivanovic

White Plains, NY, USA - Ana Ivanovic captured her biggest career title to date at the Rogers Cup Monday, defeating Martina Hingis, 62 63, and in the process winning the 2006 US Open Series title, joining men's champion Andy Roddick, who clinched Sunday in Cincinnati.

Ivanovic's win, combined with Patty Schnyder's loss in her first round match at the Pilot Pen Tennis in New Haven, clinched the Serbian's place atop the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge standings with 130 points. As the Series champion, Ivanovic will play for a potential $1 million in bonus prize money, when she makes her second career appearance at the US Open next week.

Second and third place in the US Open Series Lever 2000 Challenge standings are still up for grabs with Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters currently holding those spots. Elena Dementieva and Anna Chakvetadze are both playing in New Haven and still within range of the leaders; both would need victories at the Pilot Pen to finish in the Top 3 of the final standings. The second and third-place finishers in the US Open Series will compete for $500,000 and $250,000, respectively, in bonus prize money at the 2006 US Open.

MONTRÉAL, Canada - Cracking forehands with stunning authority and playing tough on the biggest points, Ana Ivanovic completed a dream run at the Rogers Cup on Monday afternoon, dismantling Martina Hingis, 62 63, to claim her second and most prestigious Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.

Ivanovic, seeded No.13 at the Tier I event, executed an aggressive style to near-perfection against the No.7-seeded Hingis in the final, which was pushed to Monday after rainfall disrupted scheduling over the weekend. She dominated on serve, losing just 12 points in eight service games and not once facing a break point; and she punished Hingis' deliveries with some piercing down-the-line returns, breaking serve four times en route to the 58-minute rout. It was their first career encounter.

"In the beginning, the first few games, I was a little bit nervous," Ivanovic said. "She's just a great player and a great competitor, and I knew I just had to play my game. When you're calm, you can think the most what you have to do, and that was my main goal today, and I'm really happy to see that I could manage to do that. I played some good tennis the whole week and I'm really excited."

"Her forehand, it was just winners, winners," Hingis said. "I tried to keep it deep, but she stepped away and boom, really close to the lines. And I had difficulties trying to read her game. Everything was happening a little bit too fast. And my game went down, and hers got better. So, this is another youngster whose potential is very, very high and now we will see how she can handle it."

Despite several high-profile withdrawals prior to the tournament, Ivanovic's run to the title was by no means a cake-walk. She defeated five of the world's Top 30 en route to the title, her biggest wins coming in the semifinals and final, dismissing 14th-ranked Dinara Safina and the 12th-ranked Hingis, her eighth and ninth career victories over Top 15 players. She also improved her career finals record to 2-0 with Monday's victory, having won her first title at the much smaller Tier V event in Canberra last January. Additionally, with the win, she rises from No.19 to No.17, one spot away from her career-high, No.16.

"It's a great tournament; the people are friendly and the crowd is one of the best. I enjoyed so much my time here and they took really good care of us. It's a very, very special tournament for me. From the first day we came here and the first match I played, I told my coach I felt so good here, there's something special about this tournament. I'm just so happy I played this well the whole week and I'm definitely going to look forward to coming back."

On the other side of the net, there are many positives that can be taken away by Hingis. Not only did she make it to the third final of her comeback, all of which have come at the prestigious Tier I level (she is 1-2 in those, winning in Rome and finishing runner-up at Tokyo [Pan Pacific] and here), but by reaching the semis she assured herself of a Top 10 return this week. It is the first time since October 2002 that she will rank among that elite; she moves from No.12 to No.9.

"At the beginning of the year if you had asked me if I'd make the Top 10, I'd kiss your hand and say, 'Well, yes, of course I'll take it.' But now I'm making it and I see those girls really fight to earn their spot; you always want more. Of course, I'm frustrated losing the finals, but all you can do is keep your head up; there's certainly some things I have to work on before the US Open."

Hingis also beat world No.7 Svetlana Kuznetsova en route to the title, the fourth Top 10 scalp of her comeback, having beaten the likes of Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Elena Dementieva already.

"Obviously you have to take all the positive things about being in the finals like here in Montréal. But you also have to keep realistic. If you really want to win Grand Slams or stay where you're at, in the Top 10, which is my goal, or was my goal, you have to make those things happen over and over again. I don't want to see [Ivanovic] too close in my draw when I play the US Open."

The respective runs of Hingis and Ivanovic were not the only headline-makers in Québec. There were breakthrough runs for several players, including first-time Tier I semifinalist Anna Chakvetadze, first time Tier I quarterfinalists Shahar Peer (an Israeli teenager) and Nicole Pratt (an Australian veteran who came through qualifying), as well as Safina, who continued her steady rise up the Top 15 by reaching her third career Tier I semifinal. Top seed and defending champion Kim Clijsters was among the injury retirements list, hurting her left wrist in her opener and subsequently announcing a two-month lay-off from the game, a lay-off that will stop her from defending her US Open title.

Last but definitely not least was the first-time pairing of Martina Navratilova and Nadia Petrova in the doubles draw; the American-Russian duo, who were unseeded, stunned top seeds Yan Zi and Zheng Jie in the quarterfinals and routed No.2 seeds Cara Black and Anna-Lena Groenefeld in the final to claim the title. They will play together for the second and last time next week in Flushing Meadows, the last tournament for Navratilova before she heads into full retirement. Read more about the doubles tournament by clicking here.

But the week belonged to Ivanovic, who sent a resounding message to the rest of the Tour that one of its most promising future stars has now arrived.

"This is a big step for me. I had a very tough match in the semifinals because we had rain delay and it was a mental game. And against Martina, she's a great player, and playing juniors I watched her winning Grand Slam titles and now I had a chance to play against her and played some good tennis. So this gives me some more confidence and basically now I can also consider myself being one of them, one of the top players. And that's a big step for me. I'm just now, at the moment, really happy, and that gives me motivation to work even harder and to keep this level and to even improve.

"But definitely this tournament helped me having more self confidence going into the US Open and I just want to try and keep that level."

MONTREAL (AP) -- Ana Ivanovic overpowered Martina Hingis for a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the rain-delayed final of the $1.34 million Rogers Cup on Monday.
Ivanovic posted her second career tournament victory and her first in a Tier-1 event, one level below the grand slams.

The 18-year-old Serb's power shots proved to be too much for the 25-year-old Hingis, as Ivanovic rocketed forehands down the lines that left the Swiss veteran helpless.

Ivanovic won $196,900, while Hingis earned $99,850.

The match was postponed on Sunday due to rain, but a mostly pro-Hingis crowd of about 8,000 lured by discounted tickets turned out in sunny weather on Monday afternoon.

In the semifinals, Hingis was able to counter Svetlana Kuznetsova's big shots with clever drops and slices, but that didn't work against Ivanovic, who did not appear intimidated by playing one of the sport's biggest names.

The seventh-seeded Hingis, a dominant player in the late 1990s, is on a comeback from a three-year absence with foot and ankle injuries. Her performance this week will put her back in the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in almost three years.

Hingis won the Rogers Cup in 1999 and 2000.

The 13th-seeded Ivanovic, who will move up to the No. 17 ranking this week, remains unbeaten in two visits to the Rogers Cup at 7-0. Last year in Toronto, she withdrew before a scheduled third-round meeting with Kim Clijsters with an injury.

In the doubles final, Martina Navratilova of the United States and Nadia Petrova of Russia romped 6-1, 6-2 over Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. Tennis legend Navaratilova, 49, is to retire after the Aug. 28-Sept. 10 U.S. Open.

MONTREAL (CP) - Ana Ivanovic overpowered Martina Hingis for a 6-2, 6-3 victory in the rain-delayed final of the $1.34 million US Rogers Cup on Monday.

Ivanovic posted her second career tournament victory and her first in a Tier-1 event, one level below the grand slams. The 18-year-old Serb's power shots proved to be too much for the 25-year-old Hingis, as she rocketed forehands down the lines that left the Swiss veteran helpless.

Ivanovic won $196,900 while Hingis earned $99,850.

The match was postponed on Sunday due to rain, but a mostly pro-Hingis crowd of about 8,000 lured by discounted tickets turned out in sunny weather on Monday afternoon.

In the semifinals, Hingis was able to counter Svetlana Kuznetsova's big shots with clever drops and slices, but that didn't work against Ivanovic, who did not appear intimidated by playing one of the sport's biggest names.


The seventh-seeded Hingis, a dominant player in the late 1990s, is on a comeback from a three-year absence with foot and ankle injuries. Her performance this week will put her back in the top 10 in the world rankings for the first time in almost three years.

Hingis won the Rogers Cup in 1999 and 2000.

The 13th-seeded Ivanovic, who will move up to the No. 17 ranking this week, remains unbeaten in two visits to the Rogers Cup at 7-0. Last year in Toronto, she withdrew before a scheduled thrid-round meeting with Kim Clijsters with an injury.

In the doubles final, Martina Navratilova of the United States and Nadia Petrova of Russia romped 6-1, 6-2 over Cara Black of Zimbabwe and Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany. It was Navratilova's last competitive match in Canada. The 49-year-old tennis legend is to retire after the Aug. 28-Sept. 10 U.S. Open.

Serbia and Montenegro's Ana Ivanovic claimed a straight-sets win over Martina Hingis to lift the Rogers Cup.
The 18-year-old secured her second career title with a 6-2 6-3 victory in a match carried over from Sunday because of poor weather in Montreal.

Ivanovic used her powerful forehand to overwhelm the former world number one.

Meanwhile, Martina Navratilova won her 176th WTA doubles title when she and Nadia Petrova beat Cara Black and Anna-Lena Groenefeld 6-1 6-2.

Ivanovic, the 13th seed, set the tone by breaking Hingis in the first game.

She also broke the Swiss player in the fifth game before wrapping up the set.

In the second set, Ivanovic recorded a key break in the seventh game and closed out the match in 58 minutes when Hingis dropped her serve again in the final game.

MONTREAL (CP) -- It will be Ana Ivanovic, at long last, who will meet Martina Hingis in the final of the $1.34 million US Rogers Cup.

The impressive 18-year-old from Serbia completed a rain-interrupted 6-1, 6-4 semifinal victory over Dinara Safina of Russia during a 20-minute dry spell yesterday.

Ivanovic will meet former world No. 1 Hingis of Switzerland in the final today.

"It's a great opportunity for me because she's one of the best and I want to be one of them, too," said Ivanovic, who will play for the first time in the final of a Tier-1 tournament, one level below the grand slams.

"I'm very excited to be in the final. I had quite good opponents from the first round on, but I put a lot of hard work into this and I can see the results. This gives me even more motivation to play opponents like Martina."

Today's forecast calls for clear skies in Montreal.

MONTREAL -- It will be Ana Ivanovic, at long last, who will meet Martina Hingis in the final of the $1.34 million US Rogers Cup.

The impressive 18-year-old from Serbia completed a rain-interrupted 6-1, 6-4 semifinal victory over Dinara Safina of Russia during a 20-minute dry spell yesterday.

Ivanovic will meet former world No. 1 Martina Hingis of Switzerland in the final today.

"It's a great opportunity for me because she's one of the best and I want to be one of them too," said Ivanovic, who will play for the first time in the final of a Tier 1 tournament, one level below grand slams.

"I'm very excited to be in the final. I had quite good opponents from the first round on, but I put a lot of hard work into this and I can see the results. This gives me even more motivation to play opponents like Martina."

The semifinal was suspended due to rain Saturday night with Ivanovic leading 6-1, 3-4 and was delayed more than five hours yesterday.

The drizzle let up just long enough for Ivanovic to sweep three straight games in chilly, windy conditions with only a few hundred diehards left in the seats at Uniprix Stadium.

Then it rained again, postponing the final. It is the first time the tournament has gone an extra day since Ivan Lendl beat Eliot Teltscher in the 1981 men's final of the then-Canadian Open.

It will be a first meeting between Ivanovic and 25-year-old Hingis, who is seeking her third Rogers Cup victory after wins in 1999 and 2000.

"She's a very good player, very high potential," Hingis said. "She's definitely impressed this week.

Hingis reached the final when her opponent, Anna Chakvetadze of Russia, retired from their semifinal Saturday with a strained forearm.

Chakvetadze was the seventh player to pull out either before or during a match during the hard-luck tournament, which also had rain delays Monday and Tuesday.

Ivanovic said she spent the rain delay listening to music and playing foosball and table tennis in the players' lounge.

But when she finally got on court, she used her strong forehand and two-handed backhand with her usual precision to end it quickly.

Ivanovic, who won a smaller event in Canberra, Australia, last year, will move up to No. 17 in world rankings with her performance this week.

Neither Ivanovic nor Hingis is entered in this week's tournament in New Haven, Conn., so they can spend the week preparing for the Aug. 28 start of the U.S. Open.

CLIJSTERS OUT OF U.S. OPEN

Defending champion Kim Clijsters officially pulled out of the U.S. Open yesterday because of a left wrist injury.

The No. 2-ranked Clijsters was forced to quit a match Wednesday at the Rogers after falling on the surgically repaired wrist.

The next day, a posting on her website said an MRI exam and X-ray showed the problem was worse than originally believed and the Belgian probably would be sidelined for two months.

Clijsters missed most of the 2004 season with the wrist injury.

MONTREAL (CP) - Dinara Safina's 48-minute 6-1, 6-0 victory over Nicole Pratt of Australia was tougher than it looked Friday.

The ninth-seeded Russian learned shortly before her quarter-final victory at the $1.34-million US Rogers Cup that her brother Marat Safin had been injured in a car accident Thursday in Cincinnati.

Safin, a former U.S. Open and Australian Open champion, has a suspected mild concussion and a stiff neck after his car was struck by another vehicle outside his hotel, a statement on his website said.

His car was totalled and the airbag may have saved him from more serious injury.

"It was not so easy," said Safina. "I tried to be really focussed on the match. I'm glad I was able to keep my nerves inside.

"It's family. If it was someone else, maybe you don't care so much and you just forget about it, but it's my brother. I was happy actually with how I played."

Most Russian surnames have different forms depending on gender - for example, the wife of Boris Yeltsin is Naina Yeltsina.

Safina advanced to Saturday's semifinals against 13th-seeded Ana Ivanovic of Serbia, who downed 14th-seeded Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia 6-4, 6-4.

It was Ivanovic's first win in six quarter-final matches this year.

Safina said she has a close family and is in touch with her brother by phone or e-mail at least every other day.

She said she got a message from Safin after the match congratulating her and saying he was OK. Safin was eliminated fom both singles and doubles play in Cincinnati.

Safina made quick work of the veteran Pratt on the hardcourt at Uniprix Stadium.

Safina, runner-up at Rome this year on clay, had a bye through the first round and then had three consecutive matches against qualifiers in a tournament that was stung by withdrawls of several top players.

"For a Tier-1 (tournament), I had a really good draw," she said. "It could be worse, but sometimes you have a good draw and you get in a match and you completely don't concentrate or you play your worst match and you lose.

"So I still had to concentrate and I still had to go and work."

Pratt, ranked 111th in the world, was in her first quarter-final of a Tier-1 tournament, one level below the grand slams.

She posted a third-set comeback win over Marie-Eve Pelletier of Repentigny, Que., in the second round and then won on a walkover when fifth-seeded Nicole Vaidisova of the Czech Republic withdrew with a sore shoulder.

Other quarter-finals have Shahar Peer of Israel against Anna Chakvetadze of Russia and two-time Rogers Cup winner Martina Hingis against Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia.

Katarina Srebotnik defeated Stephanie Dubois 6-3, 6-2 Thursday to reach the quarterfinals of the Rogers Cup.

Qualifier Nicole Pratt advanced on a walkover when Nicole Vaidisova withdrew because of a strained right shoulder. Ana Ivanovic advanced when Jelena Jankovic withdrew with an undisclosed injury.

Svetlana Kuznetsova, the top-seeded player left in a tournament, defeated Ai Sugiyama 6-2, 7-6 (6).

Dubois, ranked 153rd, got the win Wednesday over top-seeded Kim Clijsters when the Belgian was forced to retire in the second set with a left wrist injury. She was never in the game against Srebotnik, the 20th-ranked player who also reached the quarterfinals in the 2003 Rogers Cup.

Ninth-seeded Dinara Safina of Russia downed American qualifier Shenay Perry 7-5, 6-3 and will play Pratt in the quarterfinals. Anna Chakvetadze defeated Nathalie Dechy of France 6-1, 6-4.

Maria Sharapova and Anna Kournikova have some competiton coming their way. Here is another Ana who is fast climbing the popularity charts. How do we know? Purely in the interests of research, a fellow tapped into Ana Ivanovic’s website. It advised him that he was the 26,147th person to do so since November 7, 2005.

Google Ivanovic's name and tap into a heading reading Sexy Sports Chick, and there in the upper left corner of the computer's screen is a head shot of Ivanovic, peering over a shoulder.

According to the findings of Tennis magazine, Ivanovics website had more hits in a month than the websites of any other player on the WTA Tour.

"I must say, I'm proud of it," said Ivanovic, who is 18, a player of the highest promise and glamorous in a wholesome way, if that's possible. She would seem to be a young woman who simply is delighted to be aware that she has a huge fan following.