Sharapova unable to play

Indeed, the most dramatic moment at the Home Depot Center on Saturday was not teenager Ana Ivanovic’s saving two match points in the third set against her Serbian countrywoman Jelena Jankovic in a sun-baked semifinal.

No, the bar is set rather high around here.

It came hours later when top-seeded Maria Sharapova apologized to the crowd, saying she would be unable to play in her scheduled night semifinal against No. 4 Nadia Petrova because of a strained lower left leg.

So today’s final will pit Petrova against No. 3 Ivanovic, who is having a breakout year at age 19, underscoring that with a 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory over No. 2 Jankovic in 2 hours 28 minutes at the East West Bank Classic in Carson.

Not only did Ivanovic, a finalist at the French Open, save two match points in the 10th game of the third set, she rallied from a 4-1 deficit in the final set and was one point away from trailing 5-1.

It was almost assumed that Ivanovic would play Sharapova, so she was hardly asked about Petrova.

Walkover, Petrova. . . because Sharapova could hardly run.

“This afternoon I started feeling my muscle was getting tighter and tighter when I came here,” Sharapova said. “When I started to warm up, it was getting worse and worse. I could not lift my foot up on the serve. I could not run to more than two or three balls. It has happened very fast in the last couple of hours.”

Sharapova’s considerable determination would not allow her to give up until about 20 minutes before the match. The defending U.S. Open champion had deep-tissue work on the leg, an ice bath and even acupuncture treatment in her ear.

It went for naught.

She knew it was going to be a tough task because this happened to her once before.

“I think if this is the same thing, then in a couple of days I’m going to be fine, but right now I cannot hit for more than 10 minutes,” Sharapova said. “I’m not going to sit here and say it is this or that because I don’t know. I can function sitting on my butt and talk, I am fine.

“But running around on the tennis court, no.”

Fans were given the option of receiving a ticket for today’s tennis final or the Galaxy soccer game Wednesday.

Sharapova’s withdrawal overshadowed what had been a terrific effort from Ivanovic. She saved the two match points with bold shot making, hitting a touch forehand volley on the first and the second with the 1-2 punch of a big serve and a huge forehand winner.

“I never give up,” Ivanovic said, adding that she had been thinking of Wimbledon, where she saved three match points against Nicole Vaidisova.

Her forehand was nearly untouchable in the latter stages. At 5-5 in the third set, Jankovic led, 40-0, on her serve. Ivanovic then came out firing, hitting five consecutive forehand winners to break.

“It was important to run around my forehand, I tried to do it much more in the second and third set,” she said.

Said Jankovic, a finalist here last year: “I feel like I was playing against a guy, the way her serves were coming against me. It’s really sometimes scary when she starts to scream.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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The final

Facts for today’s final of the East West Bank Classic at the Home Depot Center.

1:30 p.m., Stadium Court

Ana Ivanovic vs. Nadia Petrova

Coverage begins 2 p.m. on ESPN2