The final of Bali will be a French affair, after Marion Bartoli and Aravane Rezai won their respective semifinals on Saturday.
First to secure her place in her fourth final of the year was top seed Bartoli, who broke Kimiko Date Krumm to start the match and began her subsequent service game with three aces. After Date Krumm got on the scoreboard in the fourth game of the first set, Bartoli won eight games in a row - and might have won even more handily than the eventual 61 63 scoreline.
"Up until 61 50 it was perfect, but even then I don't think my level dropped; she just started to play much better and get the crowd behind her," Bartoli said. "But I wasn't really focusing on her play; I was just playing point-by-point, and even though the first part of the match might have looked easy there were a lot of tough games, going to deuce."
Later, Rezai likewise dominated Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez. The Spaniard's left-handed serve is usually a big weapon but after being broken in the first game from a 40-15 lead it became something of a liability: Rezai broke again in the first set, and twice in the second, winning the last eight points in a row to close out the match.
"I felt great on the court today; I've been feeling really good all week, and getting better with each match," said Rezai, who passed $1 million in career prize money earlier in the week. "She likes to come to the net, which is good for me as my passing shots are some of my biggest weapons. I needed to impose my game on her, and I think I did that very well today."
Their head-to-head result is 2-0 to Bartoli, the first meeting being in the 2007 French Open, and the latest being in Tokyo this year.
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Semifinals
(1) Marion Bartoli (FRA) d. (WC) Kimiko Date Krumm (JPN) 61 63
Aravane Rezai (FRA) d. Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez (ESP) 62 63
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