Alas it was not to be a dream all Williams SF clash in Stanford as one sis prevailed, the other exited the tournament. Serena Williams rallied from a first set blowout to record a comeback victory over Ana Ivanovic in the Stanford Classic QF’s. Her big sister Venus however wasn’t so lucky. Germany’s Andrea Petkovic just managed to edge Venus 7-5 in the 3rd set.
WTA Stanford: Day 5 Friday, QF’s
Serena vs Ivanovic & Petkovic vs Venus
Bis sis took to the court first and she didn’t start very well at all.
Venus like her younger sibling Serena is a former 2 time Stanford Classic champion, plus has reached the final on a whopping 7 occasions.
But things weren’t going according to plan for the 34 year old during the 1st set. Petkovic who is enjoying a career resurgence in 2014 was all over a lacklustre Venus, breaking her serve multiple times en-route to grabbing the opener 6-1.
Williams however regrouped in the 2nd and kept lugging away at the German, hoping to find that breakthrough. Down 2-0, Venus fought like a lion win 6 of the next 7 game and level the QF at a set apiece.
The third set for both players though was a seesaw and a half. First Andrea jumped out to a 3-1 lead, then Venus caught up to 3-3. Petkovic then jumped to a 5-3 lead and Venus yet again caught up to 5-5. But then the recent French Open Semi-finalist had the last say in the match, by ultimately winning the next two games and just edging her illustrious rival 7-5.
The next question was, who would Petkovic face?: Serena or Ana
Well the answer to that question is the Queen Bee herself, Serena Williams.
For a set and half however it looked like Ivanovic would go on to face Petkovic in the SF’s.
Like Venus, Serena’s game in the first set deserted her totally, with Ivanovic pouncing on her rival’s seemingly tame tennis.
Ana broke Serena right in the very first game and never looked back. Soon Serena was sitting down having lost the first set 6-2 in a flash.
But alas if there’s one thing that thing the World No. 1 can count on, is that beautiful serve of hers. That awesome thing of beauty literally dug Serena out of a hole, firing down 10 aces throughout the encounter. The serve saw her take the 2nd set, edging Ivanovic 6-3. Then came the 3rd and it was a slugfest for sure.
It was Serena who started the quicker in the 3rd set, surging out to a 3-1 lead. But Ivanovic who already has a win over Serena this season (4th rd Australian Open), won the next 3 games to be back on serve. A few games later, Ana and Serena were deadlocked at 5-5 and then the match swung one final way.
Williams who literally had enough, broke the Serbian last time and held in the next game to seal a gritty 3 set comeback victory.
Petkovic like everyone else on the WTA Tour has a miserable record against Serena: Rena leads 3-0, including 2 wins this season in Brisbane and Rome.
QF results:
Serena bt Ivanovic: 2-6, 6-3, 7-5
Petkovic bt Venus: 6-1, 3-6, 7-5
Kerber bt Garbine Muguruza: 6-2, 6-1
Lepchenko bt Sachia Vickery: 6-1, 6-0
All Things Tennis- from Hamza Shakeel 