Marion Bartoli routed Yanina Wickmayer in the semi-final of the BNP Paribas Open
World number 17, Marion Bartoli of France defeated the 25th ranked Belgian, Yanina Wickmayer in the semi-final of the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, California on Friday night. The 17th seeded French outclassed
her opponent in straight sets 6-1, 6-3, in just one hour and twenty six minutes of play.
Bartoli extended her head-to-head lead against Wickmayer to 3-0 after registering her 14th win of the running year. It was a magnificent display of sheer dominance and excellent power hitting from the French. She was
broken just once in the whole matchup and cracked five serve breaks to the opponent’s serve to clinch victory.
“I am so happy to be in the final because Indian Wells is one of my favorite tournaments," the delighted winner told the press reporters in her post match reviews, "I played great even though I got tense on my serve in the second
set.”
It was the third semi-final of the running WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Tour season for the Frenchwoman, the first one she won amongst the three. She got a pass to the semi-final when the world number two Kim Clijsters
retired against her in the quarter-final due to a persistent shoulder injury.
The Frenchwoman coughed up seven double faults which were matched by the equal number of errors from the Wickmayer. However, Bartoli fired 10 thudding aces to the opponent’s court, with the Belgian replying with a mere three. Bartoli’s
serve percentage was lower than the Belgian’s but she amazingly bagged 25 out of 30 first serve points in the game to come out as the winner.
Wickmayer had a poor start to the contest, slopping five double faults in the opening set and awarding seven break chances to her opponent. Bartoli was off to a quick start, breaking the opponent’s serve early and getting to an
impassable lead of 5-1 in the opener. She sealed off the first set with an assertive note at 6-1 to get the upper hand in the contest.
The 15th seed gave away six double faults in the second set but her eight aces and 80 per cent first serve points bagged kept her on top. Bartoli was broken once in the set but she retaliated with two serve breaks to
get to extend her lead. The French closed off the second set at 6-3 to conclude victory for her and a pass to the final of the BNP Paribas Open.
Bartoli is the first Frenchwoman to reach the final at Indian Wells and she will be facing off against the world number one, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark. The top seed outplayed former world number one Maria Sharapova 6-1, 6-2,
in the quarter-final round.
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