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Ivanovic beats Klara Koukalova on 'disliked' grass court to advance to Aegon Classic semifinal

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ANI Johannesburg

Former world No. 1 Ana Ivanovic, who admitted that she dislikes competing on grass, beat sixth-seeded Czech Republic's Klara Koukalova 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semifinals on the surface with her third consecutive win at the Aegon Classic on Friday.

The top-seeded Serbian has described playing on grass as like being stuck to the ground all of a sudden, but Ivanovic moved to just a win of her first final on the surface after defeating Koukalova in 72 minutes at the Wimbledon warm-up event.

According to Sport24, Ivanovic said that it is a tough transition, not only in the body and the movement, but also in the mindset, after her improved grass-court game.

 

The Serb also agreed that she was now able to believe that she could win the tournament and said that she has more confidence, adding that it is about rhythm and getting ready for the next match.

Ivanovic will face ninth-seeded Chinese player Zhang Shuai, who beat the third-seeded American Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals, the report added.

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First Published: Jun 14 2014 | 5:54 PM IST

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