Bartoli, Rezai cruise through to set up all-French final

Bruce Emond ,  THE JAKARTA POST ,  NUSA DUA, BALI   |  Sun, 11/08/2009 2:10 PM  |  Headlines

A French winner is guaranteed on Sunday at the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions, with top seed Marion Bartoli to meet surprise finalist Aravane Rezai for the US$200,000 winner's check.

Bartoli, the world number 12, was too strong in all departments in brushing aside Japanese veteran Kimiko Date-Krumm 6-1, 6-3 in 85 minutes on Saturday. Rezai, the 10th seed and world number 44, continued her stunning progress in Bali by dismissing Spain's 6th seed Maria Jose Martinez-Sanchez 6-2, 6-3.

"There will be a French winner, and that's always good," Bartoli, 22, said of the prospect of playing Rezai, who she has beaten in straight sets in their two encounters, including last month in Tokyo.

Although Bartoli's play was not of the peerless standard of her straight-sets drubbing of Israeli Shahar Peer on Friday, her penetrating groundstrokes and serve dictated the match.

Date-Krumm's flat groundstrokes fell straight into Bartoli's hitting zone on the fast wood court at the Bali International Conference Center, and she did not help her cause with numerous unforced errors.

Date-Krumm, who is back on the women's tour after a 12-year absence and is currently ranked 101, fought hard at 0-5 down in the second set. Urged on by the crowd, she began playing carefree, smart tennis.

She moved Bartoli out of her comfort zone of the baseline with dropshots and angles to sweep three consecutive games before the Frenchwoman put a stop to the fightback.

"It was perfect until 6-1, 5-0, and then she was swinging freely and hit some great shots," said Bartoli, the 2006 runner-up in Bali when the event was played on outdoor hard court. "But overall I think it was a great performance from me."

In a contest of baseliners, the serve proved a major factor in the outcome. Bartoli won the toss but elected to receive, breaking immediately. The Frenchwoman is known for her unusual, deliberate service motion, which over the years has been tweaked by her father, Walter.

It was on fire from the outset as she served three aces in a row - her tally would be seven in the match -and then a service winner to hold in her opening service game.

Date-Krumm, by contrast, was let down by her opening delivery, with a woeful fi rst serve percentage of 53 percent. She was outclassed on the day, but not embarrassed.

"It was a very tough match for me, and my serve was not good. I wanted to hit more angles and short balls but it's very diffi cult when she is playing so deep," said the Japanese player, who came through her round-robin group after Belgium's Yanina Wickmayer withdrew due to a ban from her country's antidoping tribunal.

At 165 centimeters Rezai is one of the shorter players on the women's tour, but she is a fearsome striker of the ball. She had an answer to everything that serve-and-volley specialist Martinez-Sanchez could throw at her, converting on 4 of 11 breakpoints.

Rezai, 22, who lost only one set all week, in her opening match to German Sabine Lisicki, said she relishes playing net rushers.

"I played very well, no mistakes, it was almost perfect. She plays the game that I really like, and my return was really good."

Martinez-Sanchez, who beat 2nd seed Samantha Stosur on Friday, said she was exhausted after a long season in which she also reached number 5 in the world in doubles.

"She played really well and I couldn't play my game. I've played to my limit this year . too many matches," said the Spaniard, who earned US$50,000 as a semifinalist.

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