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Ivanovic on a tough mission of defending the final

Ivanovic took a set against Sharapova in the final here last season but struggled quite a lot on the road to final. The draw has not been favorable here at the very start since she lost twice to Garcia this season. Garcia can be very dangerous in these conditions

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Garcia played for France in FED Cup semifinals against the Czech Republic last weekend. She lost both matches but left a good impression. She dominated the first two sets against Safarova to lose control in the very finish of the second set. She had 5 match points in game 10 and failed to use any. Safarova later on got one level up and managed to make a comeback. Garcia played the first match of the day against Kvitova on Sunday when the Czech Republic was already in a 2-0 lead. She failed to play as well as against Safarova and lost but didn't play horribly either.

- I knew what to expect. I saw Garcia playing against Safarova yesterday and she did very well. I prepared for a tough match and luckily managed to get an early break in the first set which helped me relax - Kvitova said after the match against Garcia.

Garcia is now to play in Stuttgart on clay court but indoors and she could thrive here. She is set to meet Ivanovic, against whom she has some nice memories, in the opener. These two met twice, both times in Mexico and both times Garcia emerged victorious even though Ivanovic was the heavy favorite in both of those matches. But Garcia displayed no respect and that got her two wins, one in Moterrey and the other one in Acapulco, which could have finished in straight sets had Garcia won her service game at 5-4.

Ivanovic was having a really successful previous season but a toe injury held her back. She said:

- I couldn't practice at all and felt constant pain. That was tough because I was in fine form. I didn't have any practices for three weeks after that which resulted in some minor injuries. I pushed too hard once I was able to play again. But I'm finding balance now.

Ivanovic also played FED Cup with the Serbian national team last weekend. Serbia won 4-1 in the end, with Ivanovic bringing the second point for her team against Gonzalez. It was a convincing win even though she struggled a bit in the very beginning. She was supposed to play the second day as well but since there was still some pain in that toe, coach decided to give the young Jorovic a chance. Ivanovic still wants to be a top player, as she confirmed last weekend. 

- My goal is still Singapore and finishing as one of top 8 players. It's my goal and I will regard this season as a success if I managed to attain that goal. There's still a lot to be played and there are still many major tournaments to come.

One of them is definitely this one in Stuttgart, which will see 16 players from the Top 20 face off here. Ivanovic reached final last season and managed to get a set against Sharapova, who has three consecutive titles here. But Ivanovic struggled even before the final, having lost a set to Kuznetsova and Goerges. There were problems in the Jankovic match as well. The draw was not favorable here as she is to face Garcia. One things you can count on is that Ivanovic will be looking to get back at Garcia, who can be a danger in these conditions.