Marion Bartoli escapes an upset against Varvara Lepchenko in round two – BNP Paribas Open 2012
American qualifier, Varvara Lepchenko, exited the BNP Paribas Open in the second round clash against the French tennis ace, Marion Bartoli. She took the match to its limits in three-sets but couldn’t crawl her way out with a triumph.
She lost the match 6-2, 2-6, 5-7 after a gruelling battle of two hours and 36 minutes.
The seventh ranked French won her second straight battle against the local; first one was won in the second round of the US Open in 2006. The head-to-head scores of 2-0 are led by Bartoli. It was an enthralling contest to say the
least and the crowd thoroughly enjoyed the level of intensity between the players at the hard courts of California on Saturday.
Lepchenko kicked-off the match with a successful serve game and bagged a couple of late breakthroughs in the set to take the lead. It was a real test for the French who has been out of form for a considerable period of time.
Bartoli was pathetic with her first and second serve conversion ratio that led to her downfall. She couldn’t convert any of the three allotted break opportunities but her opponent converted two out the five. The difference of 13
points for the local did the job as she looked to pull up an upset.
The second set was completely rocked by the French who went on to take the initial lead of 3-0 that included a couple of break points. Although, the local broke serve in the fourth game to deplete the trail, she was broken in the
fifth to end all chances of any comeback.
Both players started the final set with caution but Bartoli was way too negative in her approach that forced her to go a break down early in the set. She waited for her opportunity to break serve back. Finally, in a ‘do or die’
game, she broke serve to diminish the trail and level the scores at 5-5 with a comprehensive serve hold.
Lepchenko was just a hair away from registering a majestic upset but she failed to do so. Bartoli kept the pressure on her rival and won another breakthrough in the 11th game. It was a classic turnaround in the proceedings.
A nail biting contest brought the spectators to the edge of their seats.
The American couldn’t break serve back to enforce a tie-breaker round; lost the set as well as the match but received a standing ovation on her supreme fight. Bartoli faces Chanelle Scheepers in round three.
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