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WTA Pan Pacific Open: Ana Ivanovic beats Caroline Wozniacki in final

Ana Ivanovic of Serbia holds the trophy during the awarding ceremony after the final match against Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark at the Pan Pacific Open te
Image: Ana Ivanovic with the trophy at the Pan Pacific Open

Serbian Ana Ivanovic beat Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark 6-2 7-6 (7-2) to win the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo and claim her fourth WTA title of the year.

In a match between two former World No. 1s, Ivanovic broke the No 2 seed three times in the first set and closed out the second-set tiebreaker with a forehand winner for her first Tokyo title.

In a contest that lasted exactly 100 minutes, Ivanovic reeled off four straight games to take the opening set, before recovering from 2-4 down in the second to clinch the title in a tie-break.

The 26-year-old world No 10 crossed the finishing line by winning five points in a row and completed the tournament without dropping a single set.

"The key for me was coming forward to the net," Ivanovic said. "She is a great offensive player and gets a lot of balls back so it was important for me to come forward and play well at the net."                              

US Open finalist Wozniacki, champion here in 2010, had her serve broken to go down 3-2 in the first set and then lost the next three games as Ivanovic seized the momentum.

Wozniacki broke serve for a 3-1 second set lead and was up 30-15 in the fourth game, but Ivanovic came storming back, winning five of the next eight games to take the set to a tiebreak, where she played almost flawlessly.                

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Ivanovic first played the Tokyo tournament eight years ago when she finished runner-up, her best result before Sunday's win.

"I've always enjoyed coming here," Ivanovic the No 3 seed said. "This is a great event and winning today puts me one step closer to the WTA Finals in Singapore.

Ivanovic is projected to move to No 5 in the rankings while Wozniacki, previously No 9, should also climb.

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