Marion Bartoli battles past Roberta Vinci into the last four – Open GDF Suez 2012
Second seed, Marion Bartoli, came back after dropping the opening set to beat Roberta Vinci in three sets 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(2) in the quarterfinals at the Open GDF Suez in Paris, France on Friday. The home favourite, Bartoli,
needed two hours and 40 minutes to battle past her Italian opponent.
Bartoli and Vinci held their serve in the first eight games of the opening set to square off the score at 4-4. The Italian broke Bartoli in the ninth game and capitalised on the single break of serve, sealing the set 6-4.
Vinci did not hit any ace and committed one double fault in the first set. The Italian delivered 53 percent of the first serves and saved all the three break points she faced in the opening set.
Vinci and Bartoli broke each other’s serve on a number of occasions in the second set. Bartoli got into deep trouble as she was broken in the first and third game, trailing 0-3 in the second set. The French broke back in
the fourth game to reduce the deficit to 1-3 but Vinci broke her once again in the next game to bag a 4-1 lead. At that moment, when Vinci was looking to be in a winning position, Bartoli changed her game and started to play aggressively. The 27-year-old won
five consecutive games, breaking her opponent three times to win the set 6-4.
Just like the second set, Vinci broke Bartoli in the opening game of the final set and won her next service game to claim a 2-0 lead. Both players held their serve in the next four games to take the score to 4-2 in Vinci’s
favour. The Italian was only one game away from winning the match as she broke Bartoli in the seventh game to move ahead 5-2. However, the 23rd ranked, Vinci, could not serve out the match. She was broken twice, equalising the score
at 5-5. Vinci and Bartoli held their serve in the next two games to level the score at 6-6. Bartoli allowed Vinci to win just two points in the tie-break, winning it 7-6(2).
Talking to the reporters after the match, a relieved Bartoli said, "I don't know how I got out of the match. Roberta is a great player and for much of the match neutralized my serve and returned extremely well. I had to dig
deep within myself. But I kept the right attitude and didn't give up. The support from the crowd helped me win today."
The Frenchwoman is slated to take on Klara Zakopalova of Czech Republic in the semi-finals.
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