Mauresmo upsets Ivanovic

MELBOURNE – Former world number one Amelie Mauresmo upset top seed Ana Ivanovic 6-3 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals of the Brisbane International yesterday.

Mauresmo, who has slipped down the rankings since she won the Australian Open and Wimbledon titles in 2006, dominated the world number five and sealed victory after 67 minutes when the Serbian hit a backhand approach into the net with the court open.
Ivanovic, who was briefly the world’s top ranked player last year, has struggled at the Brisbane tournament and her performances have placed question marks over her Australian Open credentials.
The 21-year-old lost last year’s final at Melbourne Park to Maria Sharapova.
Fifth seed Mauresmo will now meet either third-seeded compatriot Marion Bartoli or Italy’s Tathiana Garbin, who were due to clash later yesterday.
Earlier, second seed Victoria Azarenka of Belarus initially struggled against Czech Lucie Safarova, who broke the world number 16 three times to hold a 5-1 lead in the first set.
Azarenka, who received a tongue lashing from coach Antonio Van Grichen at the change of ends, then won the next five games before claiming a tough 7-6 6-4 victory on her sixth match point.
‘He’s the best coach. He always knows when to say something,’ Azarenka told reporters. ‘He just told me to keep going, just keep trying. There was not much more to say.’
Azarenka will next play Sara Errani of Italy, who beat Belarus’s Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-3.
In the men’s draw, third seed Fernando Verdasco of Spain came from a set down and needed almost two hours to beat France’s Florent Serra 4-6 6-0 6-3.
The world number 15 will next meet the winner of the quarter-final between Japanese teenager Kei Nishikori and France’s Paul-Henri Mathieu.
* Meanwhile, Germany’s Nicolas Kiefer had his Australian Open preparations thrown into disarray after injuring his ankle during his Hopman Cup clash against Slovakia’s Dominik Hrbaty in Perth yesterday.
The 31-year-old German was leading 3-1 in the first set of the mixed teams round-robin event when he twisted his ankle and was taken off the court in a wheelchair, gifting the tie to Slovakia, who have advanced to Friday’s final.
Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova had earlier beaten Sabine Lisicki 7-6 6-4 in the women’s singles match.
Slovakia were awarded the mixed doubles tie on a walkover and progress to the final against Russia, France or Italy, who are all still in contention in Group B.
In the other Group A match on Thursday, James Blake and Meghann Shaughnessy combined to beat Australia 2-1 and consign the hosts to the bottom of the group.
– Nampa-Reuters