 Zvonareva is currently ranked sixth in the world |
Russia's Vera Zvonareva will take on Serbia's Ana Ivanovic in the final of the Indian Wells tournament after both players eased through their semis. Fourth seed Zvonareva saw off her doubles partner Victoria Azarenka 6-3 6-3, before Ivanovic overcame 17-year-old Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2 6-3. Zvonareva kept her nerve on the big points in an evenly matched contest, converting four of five break points. And Ivanovic ended Pavlyuchenkova's impressive run with a dominant display. But despite the fairly one-sided scoreline, Ivanovic was not overly impressed with her form. "I was really happy with my performance," she said. "She's not an easy opponent; she doesn't give you much rhythm. Going into the match, I didn't know anything about her. I just tried to play my game and be aggressive on her serve." And the fifth seed predicts a bright future for her schoolgirl opponent who beat Jelena Jankovic on the way to the last four.  | 606: DEBATE |
"She can be very dangerous. She had a great run this week, beating top 10 players," Ivanovic said. "That's very good and should give her a lot of confidence." Meanwhile, Zvonareva came through a tricky tie against Azarenka, who had overturned top seed Dinara Safina in the previous round. The Belarussian could have put pressure on Zvonareva with a pair of break points in the ninth game, but she squandered both to allow the first set to slip away. Zvonareva faced another three break points in the eighth game of the second to protect her lead and closed out the match with ruthless efficiency. "I'm pretty happy with my game. I had a few mistakes here and there, but I was going for my shots," she said. The pair will be on the same side of the court when they take on Gisela Dulko and Shahar Peer in Saturday's doubles final. Success in both finals would make Zvonareva the first dual winner in the tournament since Lindsay Davenport in 2000.
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