Timea Bacsinszky rallied from a set down to overcome Ana Ivanovic in three sets to reach her biggest final at the China Open Premier Mandatory. With this win the Swiss player has broken into the top-10 for the first time in her career.
Bacsinszky earned two break point chances in the third games but Ivanovic saved them to take a 2-1 lead before getting the first break of the match for 3-1.
The Lausanne player earned break-back chances but Ivanovic held her nerve and won the game. Bacsinszky had a good service game to win the sixth game before breaking serve in the next game for 3-4. She clawed her way back into the match winning her third game in a row to draw level to 4-4. In the ninth game Bacsinszky earned two break point chances but Ivanovic won four consecutive points to save them and took the 5-4 edge. Bacsinszky had a strong service game to draw level to 5-all. Ivanovic won the 11th game with a solid service game before clinching the decisive break in the 12th game to take the first set with 7-5 after 58 minutes
Ivanovic struggled with her serve in the second set. Bacsinszky broke serve for the third time in the match to pull away to 4-1 and held her serve easily in the next game.
Bacsinszky served for the set at 5-1 but Ivanovic clawed her way back winning three games in a row for 4-5. The Serbian star brought up two break points and cae close to drawing level to 5-all but Bacsinszky held her serve before serving out for the second set for 6-4 after a hard-fought final game.
Ivanovic suffered from a back problem and called for a medical time-out as she was 1-2 down. Bacsinszky won the 4th game on serve to love and broke serve in the next game for 4-1 as the back problem affected Iavnovic. Bacsinszky won the final two games in the third set cruising to 6-1 after two hours and 20 minutes. Baczinsszky reeled off 16 of the final 17 points of the match. For the third tim this week Bacsinszky won a match after recovering from a set down. She won her previous two matches in Beijing against Carla Suarez Navarro and Sara Errani with 7-5 in the third set.
Ivanovic produced 38 winners to 41 unforced errors, while Bacsinszky hit 22 winners to 22 unforced errors
Bacsinszky has reached for her biggest final as she has never qualified for a title match in her career at Premier level. Earlier this year she won two titles in Acapulco and Monterrey. She has moved up to world number 10 for the first time in her career, a remarkable achievement considering that she was ranked 47th at the start of the year. She has become the fourth Swiss player to break into the top-10 after Manuela Maleva Fragnière, Martina Hingis and Patty Schnyder.
Bacsinszky will need to win the China Open title to stay in contention for the WTA Finals in Singapore, while Ivanovic will no longer have the chance to qualify for the end-of-the year tournament.
“I want to thank the crowd. Many people have been cheering for me. I am sorry for Ana’s fans too. You were cheering for her a lot. I love you crowd. You are an awesome crowd”, said Bacsinszky.
