Ivanovic recovers from woeful start to reach final

By Simon Cambers

MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Serbian Ana Ivanovic recovered from a terrible start to beat ninth seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia 0-6 6-3 6-4 and reach the Australian Open final on Thursday.

Fourth seed Ivanovic looked frozen with nerves as she dropped the first eight games of the semi-final but as Hantuchova's level dipped, she recovered strongly to set up a final against Russian fifth seed Maria Sharapova.

Ivanovic was far too tentative at first as Hantuchova, in her first grand slam semi-final, blasted winners on both sides to surge into a 6-0 2-0 lead.

The Serbian finally held serve in the third game of the second set and suddenly the match changed as she became more aggressive, cruising through the second set.

Ivanovic saved a break point at 2-3 in the decider and games stayed on serve until the ninth when great scrambling gave the fourth seed the break and she held her nerve to serve out for victory after two hours, 10 minutes.

(Editing by Ed Osmond)