Marion Bartoli defeats Victoria Azarenka in 3rd Round Robin match – WTA Championships 2011
Ninth seeded Marion Bartoli got rid of fourth seeded Victoria Azarenka in the third round robin match of the TEB BNP Paribas WTA Championships 2011.
The two old fangled rivals competed on in door hard courts of the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey. After two hours and thirty one minutes French Bartoli managed to restore her dignity against Belarusian Azarenka and was able
to bounce back from a set down to score 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 on Friday the 28th of October 2011.
Bartoli had substituted Maria Sharapova in the White Group, after the Russian had to withdraw with an ankle injury and though the semi finals were set, the fans and the crowd stuck around to watch the Bartoli’s only match at this
tournament.
The first set of the match was initiated by Azarenka, who had already qualified for the semi finals and she got off to a bad start as she was unable to hold her serve. Mean while, Bartoli was on a roll and reeled off straight four
games over the Belarusian (Azarenka) by capitalizing on two early breaks in the first and the third game to comfortably place herself on the scoreboard at 4-0. The Frenchwoman was unable to close the set on two set points at 5-3, 5-4.
However, Azarenka finally managed to close the deficit at 5-5 and the last two games swung in the Belarusian’s favour and she bagged the opening set with a 7-5 victory.
During the second set a turn of events took place and even though Azarenka was leading the set with a 2-0 in the beginning but Bartoli kept fighting back and she quickly tied the score at 2-2 and then 3-3. From there onwards Bartoli
cut the goose chase and she closed the second set with a 6-4 victory.
By the end of the first two sets the players had bagged a set apiece and initiating the decisive set was Azarenka, who again was not able to hold her serve. On the other hand, Bartoli squandered off straight two games and maintained
an assertive play to dominate Azarenka.
In the remaining games the players accomplished their service games on alternate games and eventually in the tenth game as Bartoli smashed a backhand winner down the line, she sealed her victory of the set and the match.
After her victory Bartoli said. "It was very nice to have this experience. It was a really great atmosphere, a great crowd. I'm very pleased with my victory over Vika today".
The Frenchwoman is now set to play at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, where she is seeded as the top seed.
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