2011 BMW Malaysian Open: Marion Bartoli vs. Ekaterina Makarova, second round preview
French player and second seed Marion Bartoli is scheduled to play against Russian pro player Ekaterina Ivanova in the second round of the 2011 BMW Malaysian Open later today.
Bartoli, who is a right-handed player, was in exceptionally good form in her first round match at the Kuala Lumpur event. She ousted her opponent Italian Maria Elena Camerin in straight sets 6-0, 6-1 to win her match against the World Number 115 in under an hour and fifteen minutes.
World Number 42 Makarova, on the other hand, barely scraped through her first round match against compatriot and Number 132 Nina Bratchikova. The Russian player had trouble with break points and could not defend herself adequately on multiple occasions; consequently, she won the first set 6-3 but could not repeat the performance consistently. Makarova was forced to give up the second set to Bratchikova 4-6 before winning the match in the third set 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.
The two players are scheduled to compete in just a few hours, and it seems as if World Number 17 Marion Bartoli is holding all the right cards at this time. The player is bolstered by her first round win.
“I'm really happy with the way I played. Tennis is a lot about confidence, and on the court it is showing right now that I'm really in control and I'm not nervous, so I can really play freely and do what I need to do,” she said.
Bartoli has good reason to be confident in her abilities to succeed, as she has already qualified for the Brisbane semi-final earlier this year. She also qualified for the Hobart quarterfinal match within the same month.
However, Ekaterina Makarova is still a dark horse; the player is almost impossible to predict, but has generally shown her best results against pros who are more highly ranked. She surprised spectators at the Australian Open earlier this year, defeating players like Nadia Petrova and Ana Ivanovic before falling to eventual champion Kim Clijsters in the round of the last 16.
Although Makarova’s competitive spirit may become a problem for Bartoli, it must be considered that the French player scored an easy victory over her opponent in their last meeting. Marion Bartoli defeated Ekaterina Makarova in straight sets 6-2, 6-0 at the Dubai event last year. The 28-year-old player is expected to repeat this result once again, and will most likely score an easy victory over Makarova in this round.
If she wins, Bartoli will proceed to the quarterfinal against either fifth seed Lucie Safarova or former World Number 1 Dinara Safina.
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