The BNP Paribas Open will stage a repeat of the Australian Open women’s final when world No. 1 Victoria Azarenka, unbeaten so far this year, takes on Maria Sharapova, whom she defeated 6-3, 6-0 in Melbourne in January.
Azarenka beat the promising German, Angelique Kerber 6-4, 6-3, but Sharapova did not need to complete her match because Ana Ivanovic, who had been in fine form all week, was forced to pull out with a side strain with the score standing at 6-3, 0-1 in the Russian’s favor.
Apparently Ivanovic first felt pain at 4-3 in the first set and, as is permitted on the WTA, called her British coach Nigel Sears on court to ask for advice. “I couldn’t load on my backhand side,” she said. “I couldn’t jump on my serve. I was feeling hopeless.”
Two games later, with Sharapova waiting to serve for the set at 5-4, Ivanovic took a medical timeout and disappeared into the locker room for nine minutes.
Sharapova who has had shoulder surgery and needs to keep the joint flexible, went on court to practice serves. “I didn’t know what was happening,” she said. “It was a surprise because I didn’t notice anything wrong until the medical timeout. Towards the end of the set I thought we were playing high-quality tennis and I would have loved to have finished the match the right way.”
The tennis had been terrific with winners easily outnumbering errors as both players attacked each other’s serve on the return and scored with some spectacular shots. Ivanovic, a former world No. 1 and 2008 French Open champion whose ranking dipped alarmingly in 2009, had been looking like her old self, especially in the opening five games of this match when she secured a break with some aggressive tennis.
“We were pushing each other and I thought the whole week I had been playing really, really well,” said Ivanovic who had been in tears at the end. “It’s very disappointing to finish this way. Yeah, I’m sad.”
The Serb intends to have an MRI over the weekend and see a doctor she works with in Miami before deciding whether to play the Sony Ericsson Open, which begins next week.
