Ivanovic battles past ‘fragile’ Vaidisova
Ivanovic held her nerve superbly to stay in the match when she served at 3-5 down in the final set, then capitalised on a series of Vaidisova errors to move on and clinch victory in her first Centre Court appearance.
“It’s unbelievable because when I was a kid obviously I was dreaming of playing Grand Slams and reaching finals,” said the sixth-seeded Ivanovic.
“I still haven’t realised what happened. It was an unbelievable match.”
Ivanovic — who emerged as a true top-level contender when she reached the final of the French Open last month — puts much of her success down to long afternoons training in Serbia.
“Obviously it motivates us because it was quite tough growing up back home,” said Ivanovic.
Confidence was something Ivanovic appeared to lack in a strangely subdued first set, dropping her opening service game and seldom looking likely to trouble a Vaidisova serve which began firing beautifully.
Ivanovic admitted: “I was really intimidated when I first stepped onto the court.
“To have the chance to play on Centre Court was amazing, so I was little bit nervous in the beginning.
“It was a very emotional match for me. She’s a great player and she played some really good tennis.
“I had to fight for every point. I was a break down in the second and third sets. To come back and win it was amazing.”
There were contrasting emotions for the 18-year-old Vaidisova, who defeated defending champion Amelie Mauresmo in the previous round, but was once again dogged by a fragility.
No sooner had she established herself in winning positions by breaking in each of the last two sets than her serve began to stutter and Ivanovic’s commendable bravery on big points altered the course of the match.
Meanwhile, after booking her passage through, Venus Williams reaffirmed her ambition and intention to win the tournament.
The bookmakers do not agree, but the American has no doubt who is the favourite to win Wimbledon.
“Why would I say anyone else? My self-esteem would be quite low if I would name another person,” Williams said after her hard-fought victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova in the quarter-finals.
World number one Justine Henin remains favourite to win the one grand slam title still to elude her, but Williams — who faces Ivanovic in the semis — is confident of claiming her fourth Wimbledon title on Saturday.
The 27-year-old has never doubted she would reproduce the form which saw her reach four straight Wimbledon finals from 2000.
“No, not at all, because I believe in my abilities,” said Williams, who beat Kuznetsova 6-3 6-4 despite not quite reaching the same heights as she did in thrashing second seed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round.
“I think I’ve been blessed with a lot of things to work with on the tennis court.
“I feel like as long as I’m healthy and have a chance to prepare, I definitely am going to have a foot in the door at the very least.
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