Sara Errani makes Italian history to set up clash with Serena Williams

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  • History maker: Errani is the first Italian to make the final for 29 years.

    Serena Williams overcame a mid-match blip to eliminate Ana Ivanovic to set up a final against Sara Errani, who ended Italy’s 29- year wait for a home women’s finalist at the Italian Open.

    Williams, the defending champion in Rome, avenged her defeat to Ivanovic at the Australian Open earlier this season to advance with a 6-1, 3-6, 6-1 victory and reach her third final in the Italian capital.

    The American had to save a break point in a lengthy opening game before she broke twice to take the first set.

    Williams’ first serve percentage dropped significantly in the second set, landing only 43 per cent of her first serves, while Ivanovic took hers up from 39 per cent in the opening set to 77 per cent in the second, which was key for her to level the match.

    The top-seeded Williams however recovered in the decider, racing to take the first five games, dropping only four points en route to a 96-minute victory. She also fired a total of 31 winners in the process. 

    "She played really well in the second set and at the same time, my first serve percentage dropped,” said Williams, who could break Steffi Graf’s record of 18 Premier/ Tier 1 titles should she grab the trophy in Rome.

    “She’s a great returner, so she put me under a lot of pressure because of that. I lost my concentration a little bit, so at the start of the third set I just tried to get really pumped, keep myself focused and pretty much do everything to play my best tennis.”

    Earlier at the Foro Italico, Errani said she was overwhelmed by the crowd support that saw her dismantle two-time champion Jelena Jankovic 6-3, 7-5 and become the first Italian woman to make the Rome finals since Raffaella Reggi won the tournament in 1985.

    A day after pulling off the biggest victory of her career by beating world No2 Li Na, Errani picked up where she left off on centre court to take out the sixth-seeded Jankovic.

    “I just tried to keep focused on my game and what I had to do,” said the 27-year-old Errani, ranked No11 in the world. “The motivation was the crowd. They were unbelievable and I have no words to say what it is like to play on this court with this support. Amazing.

    “I’ve never felt something likethe before. The crowd were giving me so much support that it almost put me off.”

    Jankovic was disappointed to miss out on a fourth final in Rome,saying: “It was quite difficult out there, Sara played a great match and credit to her.

    “Overall it was a difficult day, I gave my best but there are a lot of things I could have done better.”

    Williams is 6-0 against Errani and she beat the Italian 6-1, 6-0 in their last meeting, at the 2013 French Open, in a mere 46 minutes.

    But despite her comfortable record, the top seed believes she’ll have a tough time in the final today against an opponent who has lots of variety in her shots and has been using the crowd’s support to her advantage all week.

    “I think that she’s improved immensely, even in just the last two weeks,” Williams said of Errani. “She’s taken her game to another level and has a lot of confidence having beaten two really good top-10 players. I have a lot of work to do to beat her and she also has nothing to lose.”

    Williams is yet to defend a title on red clay so far in her career. A win today will see her own the most clay titles amongst active players, moving past Anabel Medina Garrigues, who has 10.

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