Bali: Ana Ivanovic celebrated her 23rd birthday by defeating Kimiko Date Krumm 7-5 6-7 6-2 to reach the final of the Tournament of Champions in Bali yesterday.
The Serb was expected to face the winner of yesterday's other semi-final between Daniela Hantuchova and Alisa Kleybanova.
Ivanovic was made to fight hard for her victory by a resilient Japanese opponent who chased every ball. She failed to win a point in her first two service games and then claimed just one of 10 break points before staging a recovery.
Ivanovic saved two set points down 5-3 and won four consecutive games to take the opening set. After serving for the match at 5-3 in the second, she also failed to convert a match point at 6-5 then lost the tiebreak.
Control
However, she controlled the final set as Date Krumm began to tire.
Having ascended to the number one ranking after winning the French Open in 2008, the Serbian suffered a remarkable loss of form.
While injury played a small part, a growing lack of confidence as the wins refused to come led her into a downward spiral, and earlier this year her ranking sank to 65.
