Bank of the West Classic: Sharapova, Azarenka and Bartoli cruise into the quarter final rounds
Maria Sharapova, Marion Bartoli as well as Victoria Azarenka made their way into the quarter final round of the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on Thursday.
Shahar Peer on the other hand, however wasn't as successful in her match at Stanford.
As far as the fourth seeded professional tennis ace from the women’s side, Marion Bartoli is concerned, she defeated the former top ranked player Ana Ivanovic with a final match score of 6-3, 6-4. The victory came as her eight one in a row at the tournament and tenth overall out of her previous thirteen clashes.
After her victory at the Stanford, the professional tennis player from the women’s side, Marion Bartoli while talking to the reporters said that, “It was a superb clash and definitely a nice tune up for the upcoming fourth and final Grand Slam of the season, the United States Open tennis tournament which is going to start from the end of next month at Flushing meadows in the city of New York. Therefore, these kinds of competitions are important in preparing a player for the major events”, she added.
Marion knocked down Ana Ivanovic on the very first occasion in their total of four career clashes.
''When I faced Ana in the past, she looked more competent than me”, Bartoli commented. ''However, as far as this particular match is concerned, I definitely played better than her. Moreover, having listed higher in the ATP world’s ranking than her added a great deal in boosting up my confidence and provided me immense power to perform at my very best”.
Ana fell down to 3-6 in her previous nine clashes.
In another match, the former top ranked tennis ace from the women’s side, Maria Sharapova, who is seeded fifth for this tournament defeated Olga Govortsova in their clash with a final match score of 6-3, 6-3 in a total of two sets. Where as in another encounter, Azarenka who is seeded eighth for the competition knocked down the American tennis ace, Melanie Oudin with a final match score of 6-3, 6-1 in the round number two clash, where as Maria Kirilenko hammered down the sixth seeded tennis ace, Peer in a total of two sets.
''It was a little hard in the start however later one, turned out to be fine,'' Sharapova commented. ''I grabbed every possible opportunity during the match”.
Peer, who is ranked number sixteen by the WTA tennis rankings, registered her name as the very first seeded player from the women’s side to knock down in the competition, falling on the fourth occasion in her previous six clashes after starting the season 18-5. It also included a victory against Kirilenko in a total of three sets in the city of New Zealand.
''For this particular tournament, I decided to adopt the attacking strategy,'' Kirilenko said. ''This season has turned out to be a lot better and has actually boosted up my confidence to a great deal of extent”.
''I didn’t perform poorly”, said Kirilenko. ''However, there is no doubt about the fact that I can perform even better.''
Azarenka, who jumped into the top ten rankings, made her way into her sixth quarterfinal round of the season.
''I am aware of the fact that I am performing well”, Azarenka said. ''It was a bit hard in the start however, I felt confident all through the match. What matters to me is to perform equally well at every stage of the game irrespective of the score”.
She will face Bartoli in her next clash.
Oudin on the other hand, also said that she fought pretty well.
''I don’t think she played better than me as it was a close call till the end”, Oudin commented.
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