Quarter-final Preview: Marion Bartoli vs. Svetlana Kuznetsova – French Open 2011
French hopes are high at 2011 Roland Garros as the world number 11, Marion Bartoli, takes on the 14th ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia in the quarter-final of the Grand Slam event. The contest will take place on
Tuesday on the Court Suzanne Lenglen in Paris, France, with the two top class women tennis players competing for a spot in the semis of the French Open.
26-year-old Bartoli is the only French contestant to reach the final eight of Roland Garros in six years time. She has been very impressive throughout the tournament so far and has shown her amazing clay-court tennis skills to
win all the four initial round matches. Bartoli clinched the opening set of the contest against Gisela Dulko of Argentina in the fourth round, when the injury-stricken Argentine competitor retired from the match to let the French in to the quarter-final against
Kuznetsova.
13th seed Kuznetsova has been in ballistic form this year at the French Open and disposed of every opponent she faced en route to the final eight. The Russian registered three straight sets victory in the opening round
matches before she took down the 28th seed Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia in an exciting fourth round battle. Kuznetsova dropped the opening set in the match but recovered with great mastery to reel off victory at 6-7(6), 6-3, 6-2, to meet Bartoli
in the quarter-finals of the Grand Slam tournament.
The two contestants have played against each other on three prior occasions, with Kuznetsova leading the head-to-head record by 2-1. However, in their last meeting in Miami last year, Bartoli inflicted a humiliating straight sets
victory 6-3, 6-0, over the Russian opponent in the round of 16. The French will surely desire to put up the same performance with her racquet in Tuesday’s matchup and keep the local hopes alive in the competition.
Bartoli was very thrilled to make it to the quarter-finals of the French Open and stated that she will put up all his efforts in taking down the tough Russian competitor.
“Reaching the quarterfinals here means a lot. My dream when I was a child was always to play the finals, and it’s only two steps before I can reach it. The matches are going to be tougher and tougher and the competition will be
more and more difficult, but it would be so wonderful to play the finals here. Roland Garros has a special place in my heart. Very special.”
The French has not won a single contest in straight sets in the past week, whereas Kuznetsova uprooted three out of her four opponents in straight sets victories, depicting her lethal form in the competition. She has already defeated
Bartoli twice before and it shouldn’t be a difficult task for her to take her down in the quarter-final matchup on Tuesday.
However, the French competitor will be very confident while stepping on the clay-court against Kuznetsova as she has defeated the Russian in their most recent encounter. No matter which of the two contestants come out as the winner,
one thing is pretty sure that it will be a contest to watch when these two top class women battle it out on Tuesday afternoon.
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