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| Marion Bartoli © Gallo Images |
Top seed Marion Bartoli joined French compatriot Aravane Rezai in the semifinals of the Bali Tournament of Champions with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Shahar Peer of Israel on Friday.
Bartoli completed the weekend line-up at the $600 000
tournament comprising the ten highest-ranking players who have won a
WTA International title this year but who did not compete in the
season-ending WTA Championships in Qatar, which finished on Sunday.
Two wildcards were also included.
Saturday's line-up will pit Bartoli against Japan's Kimiko Date
Krumm, while Rezai faces Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.
Rezai, with a perfect 2-0 group record like Bartoli's, on
Thursday was the first to reach the final four at this resort
island.
Date Krumm earned a place earlier on Friday when Belgian Yanina
Wickmayer quit on news of her one-year ban for missing doping
tests.
Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended on Thursday by the
Flemish Doping Tribunal (VDT) for failing three times to fulfill
the controversial "whereabouts rule".
Her withdrawal after the ban, which can be appealed at the Court
of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, put 39-year-old Date
Krumm through. The Japanese veteran is the only Asian in the
12-woman field.
Wickmayer's spot in the field was taken by Russian alternate
Vera Dushevina, who finished off three days of group competition
with a meaningless 2-6, 6-1, 7-5 defeat of Anabel Medina Garrigues
of Spain.
Date Krumm was joined in the last four by Spain's Martinez
Sanchez, a winner over Australian second seed Samantha Stosur 7-6
(7/4), 7-5.
Bartoli's victory was never in doubt in her 76-minute duel with
Peer, who was controversially given a visa to enter Indonesia, a
mostly Muslim nation, only at the last minute.
Bartoli advanced on the first of three match points after four
breaks of her opponent's serve.
"I had to stay really focused at the end because there are so
many matches against Shahar when I was winning a set and 4-1 or 3-0
and she was coming back to beat me in three sets," said Bartoli.
"When I was 4-2 up and 15-40 down and still held my serve was
really important. My groundstrokes were really strong and deep and
I was not doing a lot of mistakes from the baseline.
"My power was pretty high so I was putting a lot of pressure on
her. It helps when you hit a lot of winners and few mistakes --
usually you win the match."
Stosur, a doubles standout who is trying to fashion a top-level
singles career after reaching the Roland Garros semis this season,
was unable to capitalise against Martinez Sanchez in their group
showdown.
Stosur fired seven aces but was weighed down by six
double-faults in a patchy serving effort.
The 25-year-old broke her Spanish opponent twice in the second
set but dropped her own serve three times to eventually go down
after a struggle of just over two hours.
"It was a really tough match," said the winner. "It was really
close in both sets. You've never won until the last point. She was
fighting and fighting and in one moment I was doubting."
Stosur was a late qualifier for the Bali field thanks to a title
in Osaka, the first of her singles career.
"She played very well today and I played well, and it's just one
of those things," said Stosur.
"There was nothing glaringly obvious, just a couple of points
here or there or a couple of returns here or there. Before you know
it, the match is over."
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