|
Post by jimm on May 28, 2013 7:49:20 GMT
10:00 Bartoli - Govortsova (Court Philippe Chatrier) Marion will have the home support rooting for her (not many people turn up for the morning matches) so I hope this helps her calm her nerves and have a good win Go Marion
|
|
|
Post by jimm on May 29, 2013 16:51:27 GMT
INSPIRED BARTOLI SURVIVES ON CHATRIER
With her home crowd firmly behind her , French No.1 Marion Bartoli saved two match points - including one with a return winner - to beat Olga Govortsova on Court Philippe Chatrier on Tuesday.
Inspired by a very supportive home crowd, French No.1 Marion Bartoli battled back from the brink of defeat to win her opening match against Olga Govortsova on Tuesday afternoon.
Though the two players spent three hours and 12 minutes on court the battle lasted far longer, as there was a lengthy rain delay early in the second set - but at the end of the day it was the No.13-seeded Bartoli who pulled out a 76(8) 46 75 victory, losing the second set and falling behind 5-3 in the third but hanging tough and eventually making it past a very hard-hitting and accurate Govortsova.
Bartoli even saved a pair of match points in that 5-3 game - Govortsova netted a crosscourt forehand on the first one, and Bartoli smacked a forehand return winner up the line on the second one.
"It was a very long day," Bartoli said after the match. "I started at 11 o'clock and then again at 2 and we finished at 6, so it was a very long match, and I think the rain delay was to my disadvantage, because I think I was dominating a little bit and I think she was able to regroup in the break. She started to play really well and missed pretty much nothing, and was hitting her backhands really strong and deep. If I lost this match I don't think I'd have any regrets because I was really doing the best I could.
"I was lucky, and I chased the balls down when I had to, and at the end of the day I won."
And the match points? "Well, I just struck the ball," she said. "I didn't think about them being match points, I just wanted to put the ball in. I was getting more and more anxious. Basically, I tried to play each point the best I could and see where it took me. From there I started winning again."
Bartoli's warrior-like attitude helped her defy basic math in the match - while she put together a -5 differential of winners to unforced errors, 40 to 45, Govortsova's crisp ballstriking produced a shining +15 differential of winners to unforced, 57 to 42. But the bottom line went to Bartoli in the end.
"Winning a match like this shows I can last for three hours, physically and mentally," Bartoli said. "To be honest, I would have preferred to win in two straight sets in an hour, but she was putting me on my back foot the whole match, such a long match. And to show at the end of the day I could ramp up a gear and show I wasn't tired at all, that's very encouraging for the rest of the season for me.
"But the crowd really helped me get through in the end as well. I turned one or two things around here, particularly on the match points, and I really have to thank them for all of their support."
Next up will be Colombian qualifier Mariana Duque-Mariño"
Well they home crowd were divided in their support, contrary to what this article states. In fact it was not until near the end of the 3rd set that Marion got the support she deserved.
|
|
|
Post by jimm on Jun 1, 2013 21:03:02 GMT
Schiavone rolls back the years, Bartoli simply rolls backwards Saturday, June 1, 2013 This was a match that was going to make or break one of the two players. Francesca Schiavone – who peaked here at the French Open in 2010 and 2011 before embarking on a two-year downward spiral – and Marion Bartoli – full of talent and nervous energy but currently not in a proverbial “good place”, having gone through illness, high-profile coaching changes and an even higher profile reconciliation with her father Walter (who has gone from current to former to re-instated coach) since the start of the year.
One of the two was going to take the match by the scruff of the neck and leave the other trailing in the clay dust that the wind kicked up on Suzanne Lenglen Court. The scruff-taker turned out to be Schiavone, running out a 6-2, 6-1 winner over dust-trailer Bartoli, who like her idol Amelie Mauresmo seems destined never to be a prophet in her own land on the courts of Roland Garros. Appearances can be deceiving, and Bartoli broke to love to open the match, but the tone was really set when Schiavone broke back immediately to 30. The 32-year-old Milanese could doubtless sense Bartoli’s palpable nerves – and she would certainly have been aware of the fact that the French No.1’s progress thus far in the tournament had been stuttering at best. Schiavone stepped up to the plate and rattled off four games in a row, moving Bartoli from side to side and looking far more at ease, her whippy forehands cutting through the air and making Bartoli’s clunkier two-handed efforts look decidedly ham-fisted in comparison. Bartoli recorded a second game in that set to make it 4-2, but then Schiavone set off on a second run – one that lasted seven games and took her to 6-2, 5-0. Bartoli held service to stay alive in a game that lasted nine minutes, but by then it was clear that her first and second-round victories had been the result not so much of smoke and mirrors but of sheer willpower against lesser opposition. Schiavone however is made of sterner stuff, and was exactly the kind of wily, well-versed opponent that Bartoli did not want to meet in her current state of mental turmoil. Francesca now goes on to meet Victoria Azarenka and enjoy another day on the Paris show courts that have set the stage for her in the past. Marion on the other hand finds herself in the worst possible situation – having made a paradigm shift in her entourage in order to step up to the next level, only to recant and find herself back where she started, minus a good few ranking points in the process. She is 28 years of age – Schiavone won her only Grand Slam here at the Porte d’Auteuil at the age of 29. Dove c’e vita, c’e speranza – where there’s life, there’s hope, as they say in Milan.
|
|