Ana Ivanovic of Serbia will play Anabel Medina Garrigues of Spain in Sunday's final of the WTA Tournament of Champions. Defending champion Ivanovic defeated Nadia Petrova of Russia 6-1, 7-5 in the first semifinal on Saturday to reach her first final since winning the title a year ago. Medina Garrigues was leading 6-3, 4-6, 4-0 against Sabine Lisicki when the third-seeded German retired with a back injury. Lisicki, who said she took painkillers before the match, first had treatment in the second set but still managed to break serve and win the set to take the match into a decider. However, the 22-year-old German noticeably lost power in the third set and she pulled out at 30-30 while trailing 4-0. “I was fighting but unfortunately I wasn't able to finish,” Lisicki said. Medina Garrigues reached the semifinals when Marion Bartoli of France pulled out of their quarterfinal match with the Spanish player leading 4-6, 7-6 (7), 1-0. “I didn't have too many retirements in my career and now I have two in a row,” Medina Garrigues said. “I feel bad for Sabine.” The 29-year-old Spaniard will play the 18th final of her career against Ivanovic in the final tournament on the WTA calendar. Ivanovic leads the head-to-head 2-1. Honors even Russia's two-time Grand Slam winner Svetlana Kuznetsova beat Lucie Safarova in straight sets to haul Russia level at 1-1 at the end of the first day of their Fed Cup final clash with the Czech Republic in Moscow Saturday. Earlier, Petra Kvitova gave the Czech Republic a 1-0 lead after beating Maria Kirilenko also in straight sets. Kuznetsova, who is currently 19th in the WTA rankings, won 6-2, 6-3 in one hour 22 minutes to record her third win over Safarova in the fourth meeting of the pair. The 21-year-old left-hander Kvitova, who is currently ranked second in the world, won 6-2, 6-2 in one hour 10 minutes to record her first win over Kirilenko in their third meeting. “It was much tougher to win today and I used up much more energy than it may appear looking at the scoreline,” Kvitova said. “In the Fed Cup you never know who you will be up against in your second singles rubber. “The Russian team is full of top class players and I will have to play at my best anyway to win tomorrow (Sunday).”
