Ivanovic defeats Kuznetsova to win German Open

BERLIN, May 13 (Reuters) Serbian teenager Ana Ivanovic fought back from a set down to win the first title of her career on clay today, defeating Russian third seed Svetlana Kuznetsova 3-6 6-4 7-6 in the final of the German Open.

The tall 19-year-old from Belgrade, seeded 12 here, started nervously at the Steffi Graf Stadium, allowing the powerful world number four to race into a 3-0 lead inside 10 minutes.

But after losing the first set, Ivanovic battled back with some robust hitting of her own and held her nerve to take the decisive tie-break 7-4 when Kuznetsova hit a forehand long.

The Serbian may rise as high as eight in the world when the updated rankings are published on Monday from 16 currently.

Kuznetsova was playing her second match of the day, having earlier beaten world number one Justine Henin in their interrupted semi-final begun yesterday.

REUTERS BJR PM2032