Serena Williams battles past Ana Ivanovic in Cincinnati
Saturday 22 August 2015 11:06, UK
Defending champion Serena Williams reached the semi-finals of the Cincinnati Open with a tough 3-6 6-4 6-2 win over Ana Ivanovic.
Williams, who will be chasing a calendar sweep of the four Grand Slams at the US Open, was forced to fight back from behind several times in a rematch of last year's final.
Ivanovic broke the American three times in the first set to move 5-3 up, and served out to love, sealing the set with a sensational backhand winner.
Williams then surged into a 3-0 lead in a topsy-turvy second, only for Ivanovic to win the next four games. The American then moved up another gear to win the next three games and level up the match.
Ivanovic broke to go 2-0 up in the decider, but that was as good as it got for the Serbian star. Williams then bulldozed her way through the next six games to set up a semi-final clash with Ukrainian Elina Svitolina.
Williams said: "Out of the previous nine times we've played, I think we've gone three sets at least six times so I know she plays really well.
"She's been No 1, she's won a Grand Slam. I knew it was going to be a big test for me today and I'm really happy I was able to get through."
Svitolina, the No 14 seed, beat seventh seed Lucie Safarova 6-4 2-6 6-0.
In the other half of the draw, Romanian Simona Halep dispatched Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 7-6 6-2.
She will now face a semi-final against Jelena Jankovic who beat Slovakian qualifier Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-4 6-2.
