Marion Bartoli stands tall against Anastasia Rodionova in the opening round – New Haven Open 2011
Rated at number nine in the WTA (Women’s Tennis Association) World Rankings, Marion Bartoli of France cruised through the opening round of New Haven Open at Yale, defeating the Australian qualifier, Anastasia Rodionova, on Monday
afternoon.
Being played on the hard courts of the Cullman-Heyman Tennis Center in New Haven, Connecticut, United States, the contest witnessed a magnificent display of sheer dominance from the 26-year-old French veteran. Playing as the fourth
seeded wildcard in the competition, Bartoli wrapped up victory in straight sets 6-1, 6-4, to force her way to the second round of the WTA Premier Series tournament.
97th ranked Australian hung in the matchup for one hour and twenty four minutes before she had to surrender against the fury of hard-hitting Bartoli in the second set. Rodionova also suffered a straight sets defeat at
the hands of the French last year at the same venue, falling out at 3-6, 1-6, in the round of 16.
Bartoli continued with her brilliant form and registered her 44th victory of the WTA season to dispose of Rodionova from the New Haven Open. She faced no real challenge from the Australian in the game and eased her way
to victory to get a place in the second round. The French converted four out of her 12 break opportunities en route to victory, while her opponent cashed in merely one out of her four chances to finish on the losing end.
Bartoli was off to a blistering start in the opening set and stung two serve breaks right up, rocketing to a 5-0 lead in no time. The fourth seed French bagged 12 out of 16 first serve points while delivering 52 per cent of her
serve on target. Rodionova frittered away three break opportunities in the very first game of the match and then remained on the back foot in the rest of the set. She finally held serve in the sixth game but couldn’t avoid losing the set to Bartoli at 1-6
to let her one-set lead in the contest.
Rodionova posed some resistance in the following set but Bartoli’s commanding aggression prevented her from coming back in the game and the French concluded victory at 6-4. Bartoli moved into the second round of the tournament
to face the unseeded Czech opponent, Klara Zakopalova, for a berth in the quarter-finals. Zakopalova upset Flavia Pennetta of Italy in straight sets, 7-5, 6-2, in the opening round on Sunday.
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