Marion Bartoli overwhelms Petra Martic to reach the quarter-finals – Open GDF Suez 2012
Second seed French, Marion Bartoli, displayed her sheer class once again to overpower the 66th ranked Croat competitor, Petra Martic, in the second round of the Open GDF Suez on Thursday. The world number seven took
one hour and 45 minutes of play to root out her 21-year-old bleak opponent in straight sets, 7-5, 6-1, to ensure a berth in the quarter-finals of the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) Premier-level tournament.
The contest was played on the indoor hard courts of Stade Pierre de Coubertin in Paris, France, with the local crowd cheering out their home hero on every winner she belted. Bartoli was already expected to come out as the winner
against the competitor rated almost 60 places down than her in the world rankings. The second seed had to manoeuvre her way through the opening set due to some early resistance posed by Martic but the second set was an all-French show. A classic exhibition
of dominance was witnessed from the world number seven, who spared just one game for the Croat competitor before wrapping up victory with a breadstick.
"I had never played her before so I had to try to work her out tactically speaking at the start of the match," Bartoli commented. "I was playing the ball down the middle too much and wasn't able to get enough behind my service
- the first set was really wearing. But once I got the lead, things got a lot better."
Bartoli was off to a sloppy start in the opening set and his six double faults allowed Martic to nail three break points in the set. However, the second seed went on to break his opponent’s serve three times to seal the opening
set at 7-5. He had no trouble in dumping the Croat in the following set and stung three successive serve breaks to rocket away to victory at 6-1.
Next up for the French in the round of eight is the seventh seeded Frenchman, Roberta Vinci. She registered a hard-fought victory in the second round, defeating the American qualifier, Bethanie Mattek-Sands, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3, to book
a battle with Bartoli in the quarter-finals.
"She plays a lot like Petra with a lot of slice on her backhand, and the surface suits her too,” Bartoli spoke of her match against Vinci, “But if I get into my rhythm I stand a good chance. For the moment I'm delighted how things
are going."
The quarter-final battle will be played on Friday and the winner will secure a place in the final-four of the tournament.
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