Marion Bartoli topples Kimiko Date-Krumm to reach round two - Toray Pan Pacific Open 2012
World number 10, Marion Bartoli, smothered away the 107th ranked Japanese star, Kimiko Date-Krumm, in the opening round clash of Toray Pan Pacific Open on Monday. She registered straight sets score line of 6-1, 6-4 taking
almost an hour and 44 minutes for rounding off the first stage in Tokyo.
The 41-year-old Japanese professional was playing her fifth head-to-head encounter against the 27-year-old Frenchwoman. In the last four meetings, she couldn’t discover a way out to beat the double-handed athlete and the history
repeated itself on the fifth occurrence as well. She was just unable to handle the pace and agility of the French star.
First five games of the match went by in quick succession; witnessing a terrific game play from the Frenchwoman who bagged a couple of breakpoints to build up a monumental lead of 5-0. She was on her way to a bagel but some respect
was restored by the oldest women in the draw who bagged the serve hold to love in the sixth game. However, Krumm couldn’t keep the set alive for longer as Bartoli smashed an ace to wrap up the first set proceedings in the seventh game.
Similar story in the second set followed for the Japanese professional. Bartoli continued to impress with a stunning run of play, smashed a powerful winner across the court to bag the opening breakthrough and retained the lead
until the end of the fifth game. A trade of breakthroughs didn’t hurt the French star at all. She was cruising along and served successfully for the match in the 10th game to book a spot in round two.
Talking about her opponent, Bartoli commented, “Kimiko played very well today. She made it hard for me in the second set, but I knew if I could stay strong and focused I could win the match in straight sets, and I'm happy I could
serve it out there."
She further added, "I'm feeling a lot better now. It was a tough schedule for me, too. To go from the US Open to Guangzhou so soon probably wasn't the best schedule for me, but I really wanted to go there and fulfil the commitment
I made. I'm hoping to play some good tennis here in Tokyo before going back to China for Beijing next week."
German diva, Julia Georges, will be up next for the French superstar in Tokyo.
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