Sport News : Ivanovic sees off Petrova to reach Bali final

The Serbian won 6-1 7-5 and will face either Sabine Lisicki of Germany or Spain's Anabel Medina Garrigues in the final on Sunday, her 24th birthday.

Ivanovic made a perfect start, giving up just three points in the opening four games as her aggressive baseline play left her Russian opponent reeling.

After claiming the first set, Ivanovic broke for 1-0 in the second and then held three points for a 3-0 lead before Petrova finally managed to work her way into the match.

As Ivanovic predictably failed to maintain her formidable performance, Petrova settled and engaged her opponent in many spectacular rallies which several times saw Ivanovic throwing herself to the ground in search of a winner.

Three consecutive breaks saw the players level at 3-3 and Ivanovic then had to fight off a set point at 5-4, firing an impressing backhand winner down the line.

In a dramatic finale, Ivanovic held for 5-5 and then broke to move ahead before serving out the match after the Russian had

almost leveled again.

"I played really well from the beginning," Ivanovic told reporters. "Then that game at 2-0 (in the second set), she really raised her game and went for more shots and made less errors and was serving bigger.

"Not breaking her then was kind of a turning point for her a little bit and then I played a bad game to lose my serve. That was crucial and then we had a bit of a fight."