Marion Bartoli avoids upset against Ayumi Morita at the 2011 Sony Ericsson Open
Marion Bartoli of France avoided an upset 6-3, 2-6, 6-1 against Japanese Ayumi Morita on Friday to qualify for the third round of 2011 Sony Ericsson Open at Miami.
Bartoli started off positively. She held on to her serves and made the decisive serve break in the sixth game to take the first set 6-3. The 26 year old looked in commanding touch as she executed her forehands and backhands to
perfection in the opener.
Ranked 57th in the world Morita played extremely well in the second set and fought her way back into the match brilliantly. The Japanese broke the serve twice in the set and displayed some artful tennis to win the second set 6-2.
However in the decider, Bartoli regrouped herself and showed amazing fighting spirit and mental strength. She lost only a game in the final set to seal a three set match in only 1 hour and 55 minutes. World number 10, Bartoli was
delighted with her effort and although she committed a few unforced errors in the match, she stuck to her strengths and pulled off a crucial victory.
Bartoli dominated the challenger in her serve games converting nearly 60 percent of the points on her serve. The Frenchwomen also converted 75 percent of the break points which played a vital role in deciding the outcome of the
contest. However she certainly had problems with her serve accuracy making 5 doubles faults in the match. Mortia on the other hand certainly created chances but failed to convert most of them. She would be disappointed at letting the opportunity slip away
after she was in control of the situation.
Bartoli has done consistently well at the tour since the start of this season. She reached the semi-finals at Brisbane and then made it to the quarterfinals at Hobart losing to 5th seed Zakopalova. She then continued
her supreme form at the Qatar Ladies Open where she reached the semi-finals losing to the world number one Caroline Wozniacki. Just over a week ago Bartoli returned to the top 10 in Women’s Tennis Association rankings after her final appearance at the 2011
BNP Paribas Open where she lost to the top seed Caroline Wozniacki.
World number 10, Bartoli will be hopeful for her first WTA title of the season after putting up impressive performances right through the season however she must up her game play and bring improvement in her serve if she wants
to stand a chance against the likes of Caroline Wozniacki, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka.
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