Third seed Venus Williams edged past second-seeded Ana Ivanovic 4-6 6-3 6-4 in the semifinals of the Tennis.com Zurich Open.
Ivanovic may have lost the match, but the Serbian world No.4 could consider the defeat a sort of victory as she produced probably her best performance since winning Roland Garros in June. In the match against seven-time Grand Slam champion, Ivanovic was a challenging opponent and seemed quite recovered from whatever problems forced her string of disappointments in the recent past.
Ivanovic went toe-to-toe with Williams, and even fearlessly saved three successive match points in the third set, but four first serves in the following game by the 28-year-old American were too much for Ivanovic.
Williams will play Flavia Pennetta in the Tennis.com Zurich Open final, while Ivanovic will head to Austria for the Generali Ladies Linz tournament.
