IVANOVIC WINS OVER HALEP IN FED CUP 2014.

IVANOVIC_HALEP 63 76

That gave Romania a 2-0 lead in the tie before Ana Ivanovic kept Serbia’s challenge alive with a 63 76(2) defeat of Halep, who battled valiantly after a brief respite but eventually ran out of steam against her fired-up opponent. Finally, Cirstea overpowered Jovanovski in a strength-sapping rollercoaster after she had squandered five match points against the resurgent Serb, two of them when she was 5-2 up in the second set. 

The Romanian, who came back from a set down to beat Ivanovic on Saturday, held her nerve in the third set when she came out on top in a long seventh game just as the momentum seemed to have swung in Jovanovski’s favour. Roared on by the fans, Cirstea dug deep into her resources and produced her best shots when she needed to most, sending a frenetic 4,000 home crowd into raptures.

 The exertions took their toll on Halep as she returned barely an hour later to face Ivanovic, who raced into a 2-0 lead before losing her focus and the next three games due to a series of unforced errors. An exchange of words with Vranes and an angry look at a section of the crowd, where a noise appeared to distract her during a crucial point, seemed to galvanise Ivanovic as she won the next six games to take the first set and carve out a commanding 2-0 lead in the second. The spectacular clash, garnished by a plethora of winners from all angles and breathtaking resilience from both players, was unrelenting as rivals traded breaks, volleys and powerful backhands like confetti to bring the best out of each other.
The rollercoaster swung either way as Halep still had enough left in her tank to turn the tide and take a 3-2 lead before Ivanovic replied with some masterclass groundstrokes and forays to the net, nosing ahead 5-4. Roared on by her fans, Halep broke back and after the next two games went with serve, the second set headed into a tie-break where the valiant Romanian finally ran out of steam as Ivanovic capped her brilliant performance with a delightful forehand winner down the line. Whatever slim hopes Serbia had restored were vanquished after Ivanovic’s close friend Cirstea delivered the final blow.