Saturday 18 June 2011

18 June 2011

Battler Bartoli takes Eastbourne title

Unorthodox Marion Bartoli captured her first Eastbourne title, having never got pass the semi-finals before in four previous attempts, with a hard-fought 6-1 4-6 7-5 success over Petra Kvitova.

Kvitova impressed on her Eastbourne debut with a two tremendous fightbacks in a day but bowed out in an enthralling final to Bartoli. Battling Bartoli got off to a cracking start to thunder past traditional slow-starter Kvitova, breaking serve on the fourth game for a comfortable 3-1 lead.

The French ace, who impressed with a swift semi-final triumph over gutsy Australian Sam Stosur, played consistently and Kvitova made numerous unforced errors to surrender the opening set with just one game to her credit. However, the second set was a different ball game with the world no8 starting to measure up to Bartoli's powerful drives. But Bartoli broke Kvitova and held her serve for another 3-1 lead.

The Czech star looked dead and buried on Centre Court, finding the transition from this morning's victory over injured Daniela Hantuchova on Court 1 too tricky initially. Then Kvitova, the no5 seed, moved up a few gears to take the game to Bartoli with a string of impressive groundstrokes to outwit the clever two-hander and break back to level matters at 3-3. With Kvitova suddenly find her confidence to hit winners from all over the court, and no longer scared to dictate at the net, she broke in the 10th game to level matters with a 6-4 advantage.

The decisive set was neck and neck with neither player keen to relinquish the chance to claim a confidence-boasting title going into 2011 Wimbledon. Games went with serve in a cagey affair, with Bartoli fending of! f break point to survive the scare and keep the result in the balance at 3-3. Kvitova let out a trademark joyous shriek after her neat dropshot gave her a 4-3 advantage. With games going with serve at 5-5 it appeared that a tie-break would have to divide the pair of seeded players until Bartoli broke to lead 6-5 and served out for the title.

18 June 2011

An interview with:
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA

Q. How bad is it?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: It's not great; that's for sure. It happened at 3 Love in the first set. I was running for a wide backhand and kind of felt a sharp pain and just was getting worse and worse from then.

Q. What are your plans between now and maybe your first match?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I don't know. Hope for some magic and get as much treatment as I can. Seeing the doctor now, and as soon as I come to Wimbledon I will try to work with the physios and try to do something to be able to be ready for Monday.

Q. What do you feel the odds are to be able to play?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: I don't know. It's hard to say right now. I'm hoping every day, every hour will help. But unfortunately it's quite frustrating knowing the way I played. Yeah, just have to take it one day at a time. We will see.

Q. Would you say the windy conditions would have had anything to do with it?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Yeah, for sure. Because I was kind of like reaching for the backhand, and then the wind took it even farther away. That's where it happened. But probably I irritated it already before, trying to, you know, find the ball on my serve, not with the shoulder being great. So I'm sure I was kind of overcompensating and trying to figure out how to hit the shots without any pain with my shoulder, and probably that's why the abdominal happened.

Q. It makes it extra frustrating, because you were playing so well.
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Yeah, it is. I mean, I feel like I have been having such a great two weeks. Yeah, even today I mean, the conditions were just, I think, 10 times worse than with Venus. Obviously already that was quite frustrating; plus with the injury. Yeah, it was not an easy day in the office. But I still got a lot of positives to take with me, and I feel so confident for Wimbledon. I just somehow have to take care of this, and I will give it every single effort I've got to be able to play and hopefully do well.

Q. It's hard because of the mental I mean, the physical side you can hopefully get right, but it's the mental effects of it.
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Well, I'm trying kind of to forget it now and really already be looking forward to Wimbledon. Obviously that's the highlight of my year, and, you know, in whatever shape I will be, I will take that and give it my best shot, whatever happens.

Q. Do you feel you made it worse by playing on after it happened?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: Probably, yeah. But I'm the kind of player, I will not give up until I know it's impossible. Yeah, probably was not the smartest thing, but I just kept trying, kept fighting, because I felt like I was playing so well and really wanted to win another title here.

Q. Is it an injury you've had before?
DANIELA HANTUCHOVA: No, first time.

18 June 2011 EXCLUSIVE

Kvitova kills off injured Hantuchova


Petra Kvitova bounced back from a stuttering start to overcome in-form Daniela Hantuchova (pictured) 7-6 4-2 when the Slovak star retired with a left abdominal injury.

The Czech ace was outplayed initially, losing the opening three games against rejuvenated Hantuchova, but gathered her nerves to work her way back into an intriguing tie. With Hantuchova's overpowering serve working to her advantage and a string of solid groundstrokes, Kvitova played a cagey game and fought back to trail 4-3 before the Slovak ace required a treatment break for an injury flare-up.

On her return the world no8 bounced back and did well to force a tie-break, but the pair were well matched and it took a marathon 11-9 result to hand Kvitova the opening set. With Hantuchova's movement fast deteriorating it came as no surprise that the no5 seed dominated play and dictated! from the baseline with occasion forays to the net to put away volleys and smashes.

Much to the disappointment of the enthusiastic Court 1 crowd, Hantuchova, playing her first back-to-back semi-finals for many years, had little choice but to wave the white flag and bow out graciously with her injury. Kvitova, the highest ranked player in the final four, will need to start well in this afternoon's final if she is claim the Eastbourne title on her Devonshire Park debut.

18 June 2011

Bartoi blasts past stuttering Stosur

Marion Bartoli reached her maiden Eastbourne final after a convincing 6-3 6-1 success over out-of-sorts Sam Stosur on a very blustery Centre Court, which affected the serving ability of the pair of seeds.

Bartoli bounced all over the court from the beginning and behaved like a prize-fighter throughout, swinging her racquet to practice shots at every opportunity. The unorthodox two-handed French ace was in formidable form to run away with the opening set, Stosur uncharacteristically playing a defensive game and staying on the baseline. Bartoli moved through the gears in the second set, following a three minute break for a short shower to pass, and thundered drives from all corners to leave Stosur looking lost and unable to cope.

Although the crowd were desperate for a third set and very supportive of Stosur , the Australian simply could not find her rhythmn and appears lost to suffer a heavy defeat.

Stosur said: "Marion was hitting the ball very hard out there, and the conditions were worse than the other day - but it was just one of those things. I've had a great week overall and got some competitive matches on grass behind me to take to Wimbledon. I didn't see Serena (Williams) play here but I think she came back too soon, she had a year out so we'll see how she gets on next week."

17 June 2011

What to expect at Eastbourne

World no8 Petra Kvitova faces Slovak ace Daniela Hantuchova in the first semi-final showdown. 2010 Wimbledon semi-finalist Kvitova, the highest ranked player left, has impressed on her Devonshire Park debut and the Czech star possesses natural grass skills despite having never won a match on the surface prior to last year's heroics at SW19.

The 21-year-old left-hander has a battle on her hands against world no25 Hantuchova, who is a rejuvenated player on her seventh visit to Eastbourne. The 2004 Devonshire Park runner-up has registered impressive wins over French Open champion Li Na and American superstar Venus Williams to reach back-to-back singles semi-finals on the WTA Tour for the first time in four seasons.

Eastbourne regulars Sam Stosur and Marion Bartoli will battle it out for a place in the final for the first time on, and have high top form this season. World no10 Stosur stormed into her third semi-final this season, and saw off top seed Vera Zvonareva in the quarter-finals. Unorthodox Bartoli is in her fifth successive semi-final at Devonshire Park, having bowed out graciously in the past four encounters. The French ace plays two-handed on both sides and arrived at Devonshire Park on a career-high ranking of world no9 following her heroics at Roland Garros.

17 June 2011

Potential Final Facts / Anyone Can Win

  • Petra Kvitova has beaten Sam Stosur twice in their only two matches, including a 2011 Australian Open quarter-final success.
  • Daniela Hantuchova has the upper hand with a 4-1 win-loss over Marion Bartoli, last beating the French ace at 2010 San Diego.
  • Sam Stosur saw off Daniela Hantuchova in the second round at 2010 Eastbourne on route to the semi-finals but has not lost in the past six matches to the Czech ace since being defeated in theor first ever encounter at the 2003 Australian Open.
  • Marion Bartoli saw off then 18-year-old rising star Petra Kvitova at 2008 Linz tournament in their only previous encounter