Former World No 1 beats Suarez Navarro in three sets to advance to semis in Rome
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia makes a forehand return to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the ATP-WTA Rome Masters yesterday. Pic/AFP
Rome: Eleventh seed Ana Ivanovic had to dig deep throughout a thrilling encounter with Carla Suarez Navarro before finally beating the Spaniard, seeded 13, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in a quarter-final clash of the ATP-WTA Rome Masters yesterday.
Ana Ivanovic of Serbia makes a forehand return to Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the ATP-WTA Rome Masters yesterday. Pic/AFP
Ivanovic will now meet either defending champion and top seed Serena Williams of the United States or China's Zhang Shuai.
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Raonic in last four
Meanwhile, Canadian eighth seed Milos Raonic moved into the semi-finals with a commanding 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 win over Frenchman Jeremy Chardy. Chardy had eliminated Swiss fourth seed Roger Federer on Wednesday 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (6).
But after seeing the unseeded Frenchman fighting back to level by winning a close second set, Raonic regained control of the match in a largely one-sided third set to advance.
The Canadian, considered an outside bet for the French Open later this month, will now meet the winner of the quarter-final clash between second seed Novak Djokovic and David Ferrer, seeded fifth.
Raonic admits his claycourt game is improving, but said his next challenge would prove difficult whichever player he met.
"Yes, I am doing much better on clay and I am very happy," said Raonic. "Movements, returns, generally I am becoming better and also how I deal with the difficult situations, the mental side as well."
Errani beats Na
Italy's number 10 seed Sara Errani benefited from huge crowd support as she stunned China's number two seed Li Na 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
Errani has now made the semis for the second consecutive year, keeping her on course to become the first Italian woman since Raffaella Reggi 29 years ago to win the tournament.
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