Top seed Angelique Kerber was the first to advance to the final of the $235,000 Generali Ladies Linz by eliminating seed No.4 Carla Suarez Navarro, and will next face two-time Linz champion and third seed Ana Ivanovic, who is the player with most match wins at the Austrian tournament’s 23-year history.
Kerber blitzed through her encounter with Suarez Navarro, winning nine straight games from 3-2 in the first set for a 6-2 6-0 victory. Suarez Navarro is now the leading Top 20 player this season in the number of WTA matches in which she lost a set with a bagel, with her eight bagels.
In the other semifinal, Ivanovic beat Stefanie Voegele in their first career meeting. The match went with serve until the Serb broke the Swiss in the ninth game. In the second set Ivanovic dropped serve early, but soon after took control and ended the match in 67 minutes 6-4 6-4.
Even though Ivanovic is leading their head-to-head record 3-1, Kerber’s sole win against the 2008 and 2010 Linz champion came very recently in Tokyo and it was a straight-set win. (photos: JJ Tennis)