Polona Hercog upsets Marion Bartoli to reach the quarter-final – Family Circle Cup 2012
A major upset of the third round was witnessed in the match between the 38th ranked Slovenian, Polona Hercog, and the seventh ranked French, Marion Bartoli, on Thursday. The 14th seed Hercog toppled the third
seed Bartoli in an enthralling three-setter. Final scores were 6-4, 1-6, 6-4.
The match was played at the clay courts of Charleston and lasted for two hours and 28 minutes before the Slovenian registered her first head-to-head triumph against the powerful French. It was the fifth meeting between the two
players and Bartoli had a clear-cut psychological as well as strength advantage but she failed to deliver in the match.
She was broken in the opening game of the first set and went down 2-0 upfront. It was such a pivotal breakthrough that decided the set at the end. Bartoli struggled to extract anything from the set; no opportunities were created
to bring the scores level. It was a pretty sub-standard performance from the French that probably led to her downfall.
However, the seventh ranked French left behind the opening set and crushed her opponent in the second part of the match. She broke serve twice on the trot and was never troubled at all. Hercog seemed to have fallen over miserably
after an emphatic start.
The power play from the French was the essence of a masterful comeback. She allowed just one tight serve hold for the Slovenian throughout the set. The momentum was running in her favour and the chances of an upset were almost
fading away.
Hercog started the final set in an aggressive fashion; lost one point in the initial serve game and kept the scores together at 2-2. The French was tested strongly in the fourth game but she saved a couple of breakpoints to win
the game.
Bartoli took the lead in the set with a breakthrough but was broken right back in the following game. Hercog bagged the ninth game and broke serve in the 10th game to win the match. She will take on the likes of 13th
seed Nadia Petrova in the quarter-final of the tournament.
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