Serena Williams once again found

come through in three sets. This

the Western and Southern Open in
ic Sees Off Wawrinka In Straight

herself playing from behind in a match only to

time against Ana Ivanovic at
Cincinnati to reach the semifinals. ATP: Djokov
Sets Now 16-1 in three set matches this season,

the World No. 1 calls her often winning act by a familiar name. "I did a Serena,
" Williams said just after the win that was a rematch of last year's final.
For a while, it looked Ivanovic just might again pull off a surprise win. The No
. 6 Ivanovic employed aggressive tactics early in the opening set to great effec
t.
Standing deep in the court to take on Williams's second serve, Ivanovic often b
lasted away winners from both wings. Ivanovic, despite falling behind an early
break, soon jumped out to a 4-1 lead. Though Williams would break back, poor se
rving from the top seed, including a double fault on break point, put Ivanovic
ahead 5-3. With a potent backhand winner,a confident Ivanovic claimed the set 63. Could Ivanovic, using similar tactics that helped her beat Williams at the Austr
alian Open last year, do it again? That question wouldn't be answered in the
second set. Ivanovic threw in two double faults in a poor service game to hand
Williams an early break to start the set. Though Williams opened up a 3-0 lead,
her own serving woes would cause another momentum shift. With Williams first se
rve percentage hovering below 40%, Ivanovic again pressured with her strong
returns and soon found herself level at 3-all. Williams countered by pressuring
Ivanovic's own serve, especially when back up 5-4. Strong returns from Williams
soon yielded her several set points. She took the set 6-4 on her third set point
with potent backhand approach
he final set though was not certain for Williams as she again fell behind an ear
ly break. Though Ivanovic would take a quick 2-0 lead, it would be her last lead
of the match. Incredible defense from Williams during an extended rally in the
fourth game proved too much for Ivanovic who netted what would have been a
winning forehand. That gave Williams a break point that she later converted on
for 2-all. Williams then in the next game struck her seventh ace of the final se
t
to take a 3-2 lead. With Williams playing much better than she had all match, t
he pressure was back on Ivanovic to respond. Yet the former French Open champion
could not execute the same aggressive tactics as she did before. A double fault
from Ivanovic set up another break point for Williams that she converted for 4-2
.
By now Ivanovic looked even more discouraged as Williams raced ahead to the fin
ish line. Serving down 2-5, Ivanovic faded quickly as she found herself at 0-40
on her serve. On Williams' first match point, Ivanovic tossed in her 11th double
fault to hand Williams the 3-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory. Williams noted to ESPN's Darr
en
Cahill, "I was a little lethargic in the first set and then she played incredib
ly well and hitting winners off some really big serves. So I think that had a lo
t
to do with it and I had to play better." The defending event champion also felt
her performance in the final set was a much needed improvement as she heads int
o
the US Open. "The last six games were the best I've played all summer since Wim
bledon so that's a good sign and hopefully I can keep that momentum into the nex
t
round." Williams will next face the winner of the Lucie Safarova versus Elina S
vitolina match.
an article taken from tennis.com