Marion Bartoli beats Tsvetana Pironkova in the opening round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix
World number 12 Marion Bartoli of France had no real trouble in overcoming Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria in the opening round clash of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany on Monday. She ousted the 35th ranked Bulgarian in straight sets, 6-4, 6-1, in one hour and twenty two minutes to move on to the next round of the $721,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) tournament.
The in-form French registered her 21st win of the running WTA season after defeating Pironkova at Stuttgart. Their last meeting was in the round of 16 at Wimbledon in 2010, where Bartoli had to suffer a 4-6, 4-6 defeat at the hands of the Bulgarian. The French displayed tremendous clay-court tennis skills this time round and dispensed Pironkova out of the tournament convincingly.
The 23-year-old Bulgarian posed some resistance in the opening set of the match but gradually kept losing her flare as the game progressed. She couldn’t contain the dominating Bartoli in the next one and submitted the set to her opponent in barely half an hour to end her voyage at Stuttgart.
Bartoli served with almost 70 per cent precision, firing four aces but slopping out five double faults in the game. Her opponent didn’t capitalize upon her mistakes with her own error-ridden game play. Pironkova conceded plenty of unforced errors in the contest, including four costly double faults, which wore her out in game later. Her errant stroke play in the second set was pathetic, with her shots rarely met their marks, mostly ending long and wide of the court.
26-year-old Bartoli had a positive start to the contest, holding her serve in the opening six games and clinching 14 of 19 first serve points. She struck the first serve break of the match in the fifth game but had to suffer the same from Pironkova in the very next game. The scores were levelled at 4-4 when the French stung a crucial break point to get into 5-4 lead, serving for the set. Bartoli got one up in the contest when she sealed the first set at 6-4.
Pironkova had no real chance to survive against the furry of the French in the following set and kept crumbling under the pressure of defeat. Bartoli amazingly reeled off four serve breaks before she concluded a comprehensive victory at 6-1, advancing to the second round of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix.
Up next for Bartoli is the German wildcard entrant, Kristina Barrois, who defeated Lucie Safarova in straight sets, 6-1, 6-4, in the first round of the tournament at Stuttgart.
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