Marion Bartoli defeats Arantxa Parra Santonja in the opening round of Internazionali BNL d'Italia
World number twelve, Marion Bartoli of France, had no real trouble in disposing off the 78th ranked Spaniard, Arantxa Parra Santonja in the first round of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia at the Foro Italico in Rome,
Italy. In the Monday night’s matchup, the ninth seeded Frenchwoman outclassed Santonja in straight sets 6-2, 6-3, in one hour and thirty three minutes to advance into the second round of the $2,050,000 WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) clay-court tournament.
26-year-old Bartoli totally blew away her opponent in the contest, dropping just five games in the entire matchup. The two women last faced each other in an ITF (International Tennis Federation) event at Koksijde way back in 2001,
when Santonja suffered a humiliating straight sets defeat at the hands of Bartoli at 6-2, 6-1 in the final of the event. The Spaniard failed to improve her record against Bartoli this time round as well, ending her voyage at Rome in the most disappointing
manner.
Although the French spilled out five double faults in the game, she converted five of her 19 break opportunities to keep dominating the contest throughout. Bartoli won 21 out of 24 first serve points and was broken just once in
the game before she wrapped up her straight sets victory to have a brilliant start at Rome.
“She just beat Flavia Pennetta and Andrea Petkovic last week, so she’s very dangerous on clay. She also plays two-handed on both sides just like me, so it was tricky,” said Bartoli about her opponent after winning the match, “I
didn’t play very well the two times I played here before but I practiced very well the last few days, and I was happy with my game today, especially my groundstrokes. I was hitting the ball where I wanted to.”
Bartoli was off to a flyer in the opener, breaking early to pressurise her opponent. She had 10 chances to break her opponent but two break points proved sufficient for her in to close out the first set at 6-2. The French supremacy
continued in the next set as well but Santonja also showed some signs of life in the game, registering her first serve break in the fifth game. However, Bartoli stung a total of three serve breaks to seal the second set at 6-3 and step into the second round
of the Internazionali BNL d'Italia.
Bartoli will take on the other Spaniard, Anabel Medina Garrigues, in the second round of the tournament. The Spanish qualifier beat Patty Schnyder of Switzerland 6-3, 6-2, in the opening round at Rome.
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