Week #43: Ivanovic smiles again, gets title in Linz

Serbian Ana Ivanovic seems to have recovered her best tennis as she captured in Linz her first title since she won in Roland Garros. After an injury break during the summer, Ivanovic was collecting some dissapointing defeats during the last few months. Ivanovic reached the final with convincing victories over Sybille Bammer, Flavia Pennetta and Agnieszka Radwanska, in a though match decided in the third set. In the final, Ivanovic played her best to sweep Vera Zvonareva by 6/2 6/1. Zvonareva showed again her great level this season-end and reached the final without dropping a set, securing also a place in the Sony Ericsson Championships. Radwanska, who was also looking for that last spot for the Sony Ericsson Championships, and Marion Bartoli completed the semis.

In Luxembourg, Russian Elena Dementieva got her 3rd title of the season and 11th in her career. Dementieva reached the final without dropping a set, but there she faced Danish teen Caroline Wozniacki, who has completed a fantastic season. Wozniacki took the first set, but Dementieva came back to win the second and the third one was decided in the tie-break. Remarkable performance by 18-years old Romanian Sorana Cirstea, who reached the semifinals upsetting Daniela Hantuchova in the quarters. Chinese Na Li completed the semifinals and 2nd seed Anna Chakvetadze closed a dissapointing season with a 2nd round defeat to Iveta Benesova.

Linz (AUT), Tier II, $600,000
Final: Ana Ivanovic (SRB) def Vera Zvonareva (RUS) 6/2 6/1

Luxembourg (LUX), Tier III, $225,000
Final: Elena Dementieva (RUS) def Caroline Wozniacki (DEN) 2/6 6/4 7/6