France’s Marion Bartoli through to semi-finals of Qatar Ladies Open 2011
Unseeded at the Qatar Ladies Open 2011, Marion Bartoli of France made a place for herself in the semi-finals of the tournament upon defeating China’s Peng Shuai in the quarter-final match between the two.
Shuai failed to perform up to mark and Bartoli had no problem dominating the game and beating Shuai 6-2, 6-2 in straight sets to be eliminated from the tournament.
Bartoli blasted four aces, landed 22 winners and made roughly nine unforced errors in comparison to the 18 unforced errors made by Shuai. “I am pleased with my level of play. I am moving much better on the court compared to the previous years and I hope to continue playing like this,” said Marion.
Earlier, Shuai had gone head to head with Francesca Schiavone of Italy. The Chinese had dominated the match, beating the number three seed 7-5, 6-3 to send her out of the tournament and booked her place opposite Bartoli in the quarters.
Bartoli will face world number one, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark, in the semi-final. Wozniacki eased through her quarter-final match against Italy’s Flavia Pennetta, thrashing her 6-2, 6-0. “I am very happy to make the semi-finals, I had to go for my shots in the game. That was the key,” said Wozniacki.
Earlier, Bartoli thrashed Israel’s Shahar Peer in the second round of the Qatar Ladies Open 2011. As in her other matches, Bartoli bulldozed the number eight seed in an embarrassing 6-1, 6-0 matchup.
The Frenchwoman also got rid of Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova in the first round, defeating her 7-2, 6-4 to advance in the tournament.
Marion Bartoli thanked her father and coach Dr Walter Bartoli for his training and guidance. Earlier this month, the pro had taken time out of her busy schedule to spend with her father to celebrate his birthday.
“I’m going to try to do something nice. He's nice with me 364 days a year, so I'm going to try to be nice with him one day of the year and make a surprise for him,” said the Frenchwoman.
Russia’s Vera Zvonareva also came out triumphant in the quarter-finals of the tournament after beating Slovak Daniela Hantuchova 7-5, 6-7, 7-5 to advance to the semi-finals. The Russian will face Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in the semi-final.
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