EastbourneTennis.com

2010 Friday 18 June

«NEWS «2010 AEGON | Monticelli @Devonshire Park, Eastbourne

Preview

Caroline Wozniacki is the overwhelming favourite to be crowned as the new tournament champion for 2009 with unseeded French ace Virginie Razzano the only hurdle for the great Dane

Wozniacki has a 2-0 win-loss 2009 record against Razzano, having reeled off victories at Charleston events in the United States, and former Eastbourne champion Martina Navratilova told EastbourneTennis that the Danish 18-year-old is the only outsider for 2009 Wimbledon.

Razzano watched her first final on grass and a sixth Sony Ericsson WTA Tour final, courtesy of a controversial triumph over Bartoli in the all French semi-final.

With Bartoli seemingly back to her best, the former Wimbledon semi-finalist had been expected to steamroller past Razzano. But Bartoli found it difficult to adjust to the incredibly blustery weather, only to start limping after narrowly losing the opening set.

And having lost her serve in the second set, Bartoli conceded the contest after failing to immediately break back and falling to a right quad strain while trailing 4-6 0-1. Bartoli then added insult to injury to compatriot Razzano by blanking her and refusing to shake hands.

I'm in the finals and I would just like to try to win tomorrow. If not, it's already been a great tournament for me. I beat ]Elena] Dementieva and Radwanska, so tomorrow is a bonus for me. I think it will be a very nice final.

I was happy to win today because I played my game, tried to hit every ball, tried to fight for every ball because I wanted to win. I was better with my mentality today and played a very good game.

Virginie Razzano

Weather windy

Wozniacki bounced back from a slow start on gusty Centre Court and explained: "In the beginning I maybe made too many unforced errors. It was a little bit tough conditions today, but it was the same for both players."

And the Danish ace said:

I am pleased to get so far in this tournament. Being in the final gives you a lot of confidence on grass, especially as there have been so many great players who have won the title here. Virginie has played really well on grass, it's going to be a tough match tomorrow but I will go out there and try and enjoy it.

Sam Stosur lost to Ekatrina Makarova 6-7 5-7

7 Jun 88	Birthday	30 Mar 84
22	Age	26
Russia	Country	Australia
100	Rank	7
Right-handed	Plays:	Right-handed

Last meeting

Players		Result	Rd	Date	Tourn.	Surf.
Stosur	Makarova	6-3 6-4	1/4	26 Sep 08	Korea Open	Hard

Marion Bartoli lost to Victoria Azarenka 3-6 5-7

Oct 02, 1984	Birthday	Jul 31, 1989
25	Age	20
France	Country	Belarus
12	Rank	15
Right-handed	Plays	Right-handed

Last meeting

Players		Result	Rd	Date	Tournament
Azarenka	Bartoli	6-3 6-1	Fin.	10 Jan 09	Brisbane Int.

Reports

Stosur lost to Makarova 6-7 5-7

Ekatrina Makarova, the Russian qualifier, continued her surge through the strong draw without dropping a set to shock French Open finalist Sam Stosur 7-6 (5), 7-5.

Hard-hitting Stosur powered into a 3-0 lead and appeared to be well on her way to a first final at Devonshire Park.

But world no100 Makarova consulted with her coach and whatever was said certainly paid dividends, as the 26-year-old's change of tactics saw her outmuscle the Australian and fire off a string of sensational winners.

Once back on level terms, Makarova and Stosur traded breaks of serve to move into a tiebreaker. But the Russian went for winners to wrap up the opening set.

The lead instilled added confidence for Makarova and with subdued Stosur getting more erratic it was a question of when the Australian would be broken.

The world no7 slipped up in the 12th game to drop her serve and gift hard-working Makarova a deserved victory.

Stosur said: "On the whole it's still good preparation for Wimbledon despite having played as many matches as I have. Physically I feel fine, but I will take a day off tomorrow and then have a day or two to prepare for the first round of Wimbledon."

But Makarova said: "When you play good tennis and you are winning all the time, it is not hard to recover - you just want to play the next match and the next match while you are at the top of your game."

Bartoli lost to Azarenka
3-6 5-7

Unseeded Victoria Azarenka, who has suffered a lean year in comparison to her breakthrough season of 2009, shot down serial Eastbourne semi-finalist Marion Bartoli with ease 6-3, 7-5.

Azarenka has faced an incredibly tough draw to march into the final, storming past many leading players in the process with her trademark loud shrieking annoying opponents and fans alike.

Part Arizona-based and part Paris-based Azarenka sparkled against the no8 seed in the opening set, with breaks in the third and ninth games earning her a deserved lead.

But the French ace, playing in her fourth consecutive semi-final at Devonshire Park, was in no mood to give up despite the Centre Court favouring the 20-year-old.

The Belarussian's powerful serves and breathtaking groundstrokes were flashes of the form and ability that saw her break into the world's top 10 in 2009.

Both the players dazzled the appreciative crowd with surging shots and only traded one break each until deadly accurate Azarenka piled on the pressure in the 12th game of the second set to claim an emphatic triumph.

Azarenka, the world no15, saw off 2008 Eastbourne winner Agnieszka Radwanska in the opening round and 2005 Eastbourne champion Kim Clijsters at the quarter-final stage.

She admitted: "It was a very tough match, she kept moving me from side to side. I was serving really well today and putting a lot of pressure on her, but that was the biggest key today.

"I'm pleased to be at Eastbourne after having to pull out the last two years as it has been a while since I won so many matches at a tournament."