The WTA finals is proving a difficult one to follow with matches beginning in the middle of the day in the UK.  I tried to delay my lunch break today, but play kicked off later than I expected!  I’m just about to watch today’s first match between Serena Williams and Ana Ivanovic, but thankfully Moo’s Tennis Blog is covered! Here are the thoughts of Adam Wells, who watched the first match from Singapore…

It may not have ended the way she would have wanted, but it was great to see Ana Ivanovic back at the end of year championships for the first time in 6 years.

Things started well enough for her.  She had two chances to break in the first game of the match, but, as so often happens, Williams found her first serve when she needed it. Ivanovic hadn’t managed to break, but she had managed to get her forehand working early on, a weapon she would need if she wanted to upset the reigning champion. She held her opening service game fairly comfortably, and when Williams hit her 3^rd double fault of the match in the next game, I thought Ivanovic might have caught her on an off day.  But just as I was thinking that, she crushed a crisp, pinpoint winner down the line, which she celebrated with a roared “COME ON”, and I thought, maybe not!

Consistent deep returning from Williams put pressure on the Ivanovic serve in the third game of the match, and a double fault didn’t help the Serb’s cause. A cautious, short second serve at 15-40 was met with an enormous forehand that gave her no chance.

Ivanovic lost her way a bit from there as Williams found her rhythm on serve. The break was consolidated with another ace, and, after a slightly sluggish start, Serena raced into a 4-1 lead.

The next game encapsulated the match from Ivanovic’s point of view. She double faulted again after a typically wayward ball toss, then hit a couple of big forehand winners to take the game and keep in touch. If she could just do less of the former and more of the latter, she had a real shot.

And in the next game she did just that, with the possibility of double faulting helpfully removed as it was Williams’ turn to serve. It was a break to love, with Ivanovic’s forehand dominating the game.

She held well to level the score at 4-4, then put the pressure on the Williams’  serve again in the next game. A beautiful drop shot caught Serena off guard to win the first point, and some great defensive work got her the third. Williams won the points either side with some solid baseline play and a great body serve, but Ivanovic earned herself a chance to break and take an unexpected lead. She followed an aggressive forehand return down the middle with an inside-in winner down the line. And she was similarly positive at 30-40, this time coming in behind her forehand return, only to put the volley inches long. Serena then hit a huge forehand of her own, and escaped from the game with an unreturned serve, screaming “COME ON” after both points, the missed volley a classic case of what might have been.

Ivanovic started serving to stay in the set with a double fault, then missed just wide with a rushed, slightly wild forehand to go 0-30 down. She called on Hawkeye to save her in the next point, but Williams had just caught the line with a mishit service return.  It was Williams’ turn to challenge on her first set point, but Ivanovic had caught the line herself. Another terrible ball toss from Ivanovic led to her double faulting again at 15-40, handing the set to Williams, and leaving me wondering, exasperated, why she hadn’t caught the ball.

Williams started the second set with an ace. But, as well as she was serving, Ivanovic was returning just as well. Trying hard to get an early strike in with her forehand, she was rushing Serena and fought her way to a break in the very first game. I thought it was strange that Williams kept serving to Ivanovic’s forehand side, but when she changed tack and Ivanovic hit a sensational inside-out backhand down the line, I knew why.

Unfortunately though, Ivanovic was letting herself down on serve. Having just secured a break, she started the next service game with another double fault. She then netted a routine forehand before double faulting once more. Williams won the break point with some wonderful defensive play, but this was the third game that Ivanovic had served 2 double faults in, a handicap you just cannot hope to win with against the world number 1.

From there on out, until the final game at least, Ivanovic held with surprising ease, racking up three straight holds to love, something that seemed unimaginable just moments ago. There were several incredible shots from her (one sliced pass down the line in particular is well worth a watch) and she was generally excellent off both wings. But the aces rained down from Serena’s racket whenever there was a sniff of danger, and the American seemed more concerned with holding her own serve than trying to make further inroads into Ana’s. Credit to Ivanovic, she tried to be aggressive, but Williams had the answers, and with a set and a break already separating them, it was too little too late.

In the final game of the match, Ivanovic went long with a horrible, snatched backhand to get off to the worst possible start under pressure again. She sent an equally errant forehand long at 15-30, then went long again at 15-40, three unforced errors costing her any chance of a comeback.

This was a very entertaining, but ultimately frustrating match. Ivanovic nearly made this really competitive, but was just too erratic when it mattered most.

Post written by Adam Wells