Francesca Schiavone crushes local Marion Bartoli in straight sets – French Open 2011
Defending champion, Francesca Schiavone moved into her second Roland Garros final on Thursday, June 2nd after defeating local Marion Bartoli in straight sets.
The Italian took a total of ninety minutes to secure a 6-3, 6-3 win over the eleventh seeded local.
In their first ever meeting on clay – sixth otherwise, Schiavone entered the match standing on a statistical edge as she not only ranked higher than the French but also led the head-to-head series 4-1.
The Italian came out firing in the very first game as she clinched the first game on her serve plausibly. Soon after, Bartoli also put herself on the scoreboard. Matching blow for blow with each other, both players continued to
hold their serves for the first seven games.
The turning point for the Italian came in the eighth game, when a double fault from Bartoli gave Schiavone an advantage on deuce, which she capitalised on fully sending a winner down the line to go 5-3 in the lead. A long backhand
from Bartoli after a short rally at 15-40 in the ninth game gifted the set to Schiavone.
Taking almost forty minutes, the fifth seed registered an amazing 80% win on her first serve as she hit 13 winners and won a total of 37 points to go one up in the set score, with a 6-3 win in the opener.
However, the French was far from out. Although a set down, the local fuelled by the cheers of the crowd bounced back in the second set as she broke the Italian in the second game to lead the set 2-0. The Italian returned the favour
in the third game as she broke back after three long deuces, eventually levelling the score at two games each.
The game progressed slowly as the two players continued to hold their serve. Tied at 3-3, Schiavone broke Bartoli in the seventh game as the latter committed one error after the other before the Italian sealed the game at 15-40
with a forehand down the line. Holding her serve in the eighth and then clinching the ninth without losing a single point, Schiavone secured another 6-3 win to seal her straight sets victory.
Schiavone moves on ahead to play Chinese ace, Na Li in the final match here on Saturday, June 4th. Li moved into the final after doing away with former world number one, Maria Sharapova in the semi-final earlier today.
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