New No. 1 Ivanovic claims French Open title
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It might have helped Saturday that the recently retired Henin was in the front row in a red jacket, not on the court wielding a racket.
Safina sure can wallop the ball, but she’s hardly as complete a player as four-time French Open champion Henin, and never made it past the quarterfinals at any Grand Slam tournament until this one.
Nonetheless, Safina was trying to become the first woman to win a major title after having saved a match point against two opponents. Against both Sharapova in the fourth round, and No. 7 Elena Dementieva in the quarterfinals, Safina trailed by a set and 5-2 in the second set, then was a point from losing at 5-3, before coming all the way back to complete the upsets.
Those were part of a 12-match winning streak Safina carried into Saturday, including six victories over top-10 opponents.
“This time? I tried,” Safina said, “but I didn’t have any more of that fire.”
When it was over, Ivanovic stood on a line judge’s chair to climb into the stands for hugs and kisses with her parents, her brother and other supporters.
She spoke afterward about the days when she rode her bicycle to practice, thinking of being a champion one day. Those dreams might have seemed far away when, growing up in a war-torn land, Ivanovic honed her tennis skills in the winter by practicing on the floor of a drained indoor swimming pool.
This is the second consecutive Grand Slam tournament with a champion from her nation of 7.5 million people. Novak Djokovic won the men’s title at the Australian Open.
“I said, ’Come on, he could do it — I could do it, too.’ So it’s something that for sure motivates,” Ivanovic said, “and I hope also many young kids will get inspired from us.”
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