Thu Jun 5 12:56:25 2008

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New No. 1 Ivanovic will meet Safina in French Open final

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Paris, France (Sports Network) - Serbian star Ana Ivanovic will battle Russian Dinara Safina in Saturday's ladies' final at the 2008 French Open.

The 2007 Roland Garros runner-up Ivanovic topped fellow Serb Jelena Jankovic in Thursday's semifinals to become the new world No. 1 among the women, supplanting Maria Sharapova, who had a short-lived stay at the top after replacing recently-retired Justine Henin there.

The second-seeded Ivanovic snuck past a third-seeded Jankovic 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in Day 12's marquee semi on Court Chatrier. With the victory, Ivanovic became the first-ever Serb, male or female, to ascend to the top of the rankings.

Jankovic jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set against Ivanovic, but Ivanovic charged back to win nine of the next 11 games to forge ahead 6-4, 3-1.

But Jankovic then charged back to claim the second set by winning five straight games, closing out the stanza on a fourth set point.

In the third and final set, Ivanovic was trailing 3-4 when she broke Jankovic en route to capturing the last three games of the bout to move on, which she did by blasting a forehand return winner on her first match point. She set-up the match point by mashing another forehand winner.

Ivanovic prevailed in 2 hours, 15 minutes, despite misfiring for 43 unforced errors. She tallied five aces and broke Jankovic's serve seven times, compared to six breaks for the hard-luck loser.

The 6-foot-1 Ivanovic is now 6-1 lifetime versus the 23-year-old Jankovic, including a win this year on a hardcourt at Indian Wells and a 2-0 record on clay.

Ivanovic lost to Henin in last year's French Open final and succumbed to Sharapova in this year's Australian Open title match.

The 20-year-old Ivanovic has reached the final in three of the last five Grand Slam events, while Jankovic fell to 0-4 in her career major semis, which have all come in the last seven Grand Slam tournaments. Jankovic lost to Henin in last year's final four here at Roland Garros.

Ivanovic will appear in her 10th career final, seeking a seventh title. She's 1-1 in her 2008 finals, but 0-2 in her career Grand Slam finales.

Earlier on Thursday, Safina upset fellow Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova to secure a berth in her first-ever major final.

The 13th-seeded Safina cruised past a sluggish fourth-seeded Kuznetsova 6-3, 6-2 on Chatrier, as Kuznetsova fell to 3-1 in her career major semis.

An overpowering Safina was in control throughout, as she struck almost twice as many winners (39-20) and broke Kuznetsova's serve a whopping six times en route to the final. The match ended after 1 hour, 27 minutes when Kuznetsova sent one final forehand well wide of the court.

The big-hitting Safina is now 4-4 lifetime against Kuznetsova, who topped Safina in the French Open quarters in 2006.

The 2004 U.S. Open champion and 2007 U.S. Open runner-up Kuznetsova was a French Open finalist two years ago, losing to the great Henin.

The red-hot Safina is now riding a 12-match winning streak, which includes victories over reigning No. 1s, at the time, Sharapova and Henin and former top-ranked star Serena Williams. The Russian titled in Berlin last month, beating Henin, Williams and two-time Grand Slam runner-up Elena Dementieva en route to the surprising title. Safina also beat her fellow Russian Dementieva in a quarterfinal bout here on Wednesday, a day in which Safina saved a match point before advancing. She also staved off a match point before stunning the Australian Open champion Sharapova here on Monday.

The 22-year-old Safina is the younger sister of two-time Grand Slam titlist and former world No. 1 men's star Marat Safin.

The 5-foot-11 Safina will appear in her 11th career WTA Tour-level final (6-4) and is 1-0 in her lone 2008 finale, in Berlin. She captured an event here in Paris in 2005 -- the Paris Indoors.

On Saturday, Ivanovic and Safina will meet for a fourth time, with the Serb holding a 2-1 all-time advantage. The Russian, however, is 1-0 in their lone previous matchup on clay, in Berlin three years ago. Ivanovic topped Safina at Wimbledon in 2006 in their lone previous Grand Slam meeting.