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No wonder Ana Ivanovic's face was lit up by a permanent smile. After a childhood spent playing tennis to the noise of bombs falling on Belgrade, practising in an empty swimming pool because there were no indoor courts and finally moving to Switzerland because of the lack of
opportunities in her war-torn homeland, the 19-year-old world No. 7 yesterday reached her first Grand Slam final.
Ivanovic swept aside Maria Sharapova 6-2, 6-1 with a formidable display of power hitting to fulfil the predictions of those who said that a Serbian woman would go all the way in this year's French Open.
Nevertheless, for the last fortnight it has been the name of her compatriot, Jelena Jankovic, on most people's lips.
Jankovic came to Paris having won clay court titles in Charleston and Rome during a two-month run in which she had lost to only one player.
Unfortunately for the 22-year-old No. 4 seed, she ran into the same opponent in the semifinals here and Justine Henin beat her for the sixth time in six matches, winning 6-2, 6-2.
Ivanovic's potential has been evident since she won her first title two months after her 17th birthday.
Two more titles have followed, but her failure to progress beyond the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam event left doubts over whether she could rise to the biggest occasions. There was little hint of any such weakness against Sharapova, who has now lost at this stage in six of the last 10 Grand Slam events.
Sharapova has been hampered by a shoulder injury and rarely plays her best on clay, but the succession of errors that littered her game were largely the result of the pressure exerted by Ivanovic.
The Serb repeatedly launched into Sharapova's serve, particularly in the advantage court, and it was no coincidence that the Russian double-faulted to hand her the first set. Sharapova kept missing her drive volleys, which are normally one of her favourite shots, and the second set went by in a flash.
The first Serbian finalist here since her childhood idol, Monica Seles, won the last of her three French Open titles in 1992, Ivanovic has been besotted with tennis since the age of 5, when she saw a television advertisement for free coaching clinics. However, her dedication was regularly tested while growing up in Belgrade, particularly during Nato's bombing of the Serbian capital.
"It was tough, especially during the bombings in 1999," she said. "I thought it would be impossible to continue because we didn't know how long it was going to go on. We had problems getting a visa to travel to another country. There weren't flights from Serbia, so we had to take a six- or seven-hour coach journey to Hungary just to catch a flight."
After the war, Ivanovic's winter practice sessions were held in a swimming pool. "There weren't many people using the pool in the winter and it was very expensive to keep it warm, so they emptied the pool, laid a carpet and set up two tennis courts. It was impossible to play cross-court because you were so close to the wall, so we had to keep playing down the lines."
Sharapova gave Ivanovic credit for her aggressive approach and said she had been pleased to reach her first semifinal here, particularly given her shoulder injury. Although the Russian is some way below peak fitness she hopes to be fully fit for Wimbledon. However, she is not certain whether to play at Edgbaston next week.
"I can't even say how happy I am when this time of year comes round. I always look forward to it and I'm always thinking from the beginning of the year: 'I hope I'm healthy for Wimbledon.' It's a very special place in my career and in my heart. I always love going back there," Sharapova said.
The No. 2 seed would have replaced Henin as the world No. 1 if she had won the title, but the Belgian is looking all but invincible on her favourite surface as she chases her fourth Roland Garros crown.
- INDEPENDENT