It's Ivanovic vs Zvonareva in Indian Wells

22 March,2009 07:28 AM IST |   |  AFP

Defending champion Ana Ivanovic ended the dream run of Russian teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday to return to the final of the Indian Wells tournament.


Defending champion Ana Ivanovic ended the dream run of Russian teen Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova on Friday to return to the final of the Indian Wells tournament.

Ivanovic, seeded fifth, beat the unseeded 17-year-old 6-2, 6-3 to set up a meeting with fourth-seeded Russian

Ana Ivanovic returns to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the semis

Vera Zvonareva in Sunday's final.


Zvonareva beat her doubles partner, eighth-seeded Victoria Azarenka of Belarus, 6-3, 6-3.

Ivanovic was delighted. "Coming into tournament I was very confident the way I was practising, but still wanted to prove that once I was actually on court competing," she said.

Meanwhile, Zvonareva, who won her eighth career title at Pattaya City earlier this year, continued her dominance of Azarenka, who has never taken a set from the Russian in four meetings.

"I'm overall pretty happy with my game. I had a few double faults, a few mistakes here and there, but I was going for my shots,"

She broke Azarenka in the first game of the second set and again in the final game to seal the victory in one hour and 20 minutes.

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Sports Defending champion Ana Ivanovic Vera Zvonareva tennis