Ivanovic stuns Serena in Australian Open last sixteen

Ana Ivanovic has stunned Serena Williams and the tennis world by beating Serena Williams 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

In what is by far the biggest upset of this year’s Open, Ivanovic played the high risk brand of tennis which earned her the number one ranking and the Roland Garros title back in 2008.

The signs an upset was on the cards were clear from the first game. Ivanovic struck returns with a modified compact swing that gleaned backhand winners and stepped inside the baseline on the second serve to force Serena into double faults earn herself three break points. Serena saved them but the warning had been sent by Ana: anything less than your best and I am going to be all over you.

Ana’s best comes from her forehand side and that shot was as good as it has ever been. The winners started in the first game and never let up as she moved into the court and unleashed what is, when on, the strongest, most effective forehand on the WTA. It fired off winners and forced errors from Serena and was the shot that got Ana out of a few holes and helped her fig them for Serena, getting the first break of the first set to lead 3-2.

Ana could not hold though against the game’s best out-of-hole-digger. The inconsistency which has marked Ana’ career ever since that sudden burst into the elite in ’08 looked set to take hold of her once more as Serena held steady and got herself worked up. Serving at 4-5 to stay in, set point down, Ana went 0-1 down as she misfired a forehand into the net.

Going down like that was typical of Ana, a player who has always lived and died by her forehand. 32 forehand winners won her her third match against Stosur and she would need close enough numbers against Serena. She had won 13 in the first set but she needed to hit them on the big points, such as set point down.

And she began to do just that. Perhaps it was memories of her run to the ’08 final when she beat then reigning Wimbledon champion Venus Williams in the last eight. That muscle memory clicked in, both in technique and mentally. Ana did not get nervous or emotional and just freely unleashed her forehand, setting it up perfectly with attacks to the Serena backhand, hitting away from it, and then tearing into the short returns.

This match was all about execution. So often over the years, Ana has gone for her shots too early but she made sure to be consistent, employing rally shots with spin and slice, until she had the right ball. At 2-2 she broke and held serve all the way to 5-3. She would not need to serve out for the set, her return and all round aggression proving too much for a rattled Serena as she broke to take the set 6-3.

High on confidence and the support of the crowd, Ana broke at the start of the third to lead 2-0. The forehand was not breaking down and the rest of her game, especially her return, was supporting it. Her serve too was as solid as it has been, holding up at 4-2 to love. Not once did doubt appear to creep into her mind. Even when she missed a match point opportunity as her forehand on the run hit the net. Even with the presence of Serena on the other side of the court, a Serena given a time warning when serving at 2-5. Such things have sent Serena into fits in previous big matches but this one she handled with humour, serving as quickly as she possibly could, so quickly Ana had to ask her to slow down.

At 5-3, serving for the match, slowing down was something Ana was not about to do. Defending as well as she attacked to win the longer rallies, Ana’s backhand proved as steady as her forehand was ferocious. Her serve was the shot though that needed to stay firm and it did not let her down. A service winner on match point sealed her first win over Serena and sent her into her first Australian Open quarter final since 2008.

It was the kind of performance that makes you wonder just where she has been the last few years and just how far she can go. In her post match interview she talked of the doubts of the past, of how success came too soon and how she was still young, only 26, and there was still a lot to play for. Playing like this against the elite, the kind of play that has you both covering your face but keeping your fingers wide apart, one has to imagine she could play for the title again come Saturday night.