Second seed Marion Bartoli powered past Petra Martic of Croatia 7-5, 6-1 to reach the Open GDF Suez quarter-finals on Thursday.
Roberta Vinci of Italy and Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium also moved into the quarters, along with Klara Zakopalova of the Czech Republic and German pair Mona Barthel and Angelique Kerber.
Bartoli hit a forehand return winner to clinch victory. The Frenchwoman won seven consecutive games to lead 4-0 in the second set, despite seven double faults.
Photo: AFP
“My serve cost me in the first set,” Bartoli said. “Either I was making double faults or I was serving too softly. She’s a girl who returns very well and who hits the ball hard. She troubled me right away. Fortunately, I managed to break her, otherwise I could have lost that first set.”
Martic saved 16 break points, but her form dropped in the final set.
“The rallies exhausted her a bit,” Bartoli said. “I felt great physically, therefore I got the upper hand in the second set.”
Photo: AFP
Vinci beat American qualifier Bethanie Mattek-Sands 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.
The seventh-seeded Italian broke twice in the final set, clinching victory when Mattek-Sands sent a backhand into the net.
Mattek-Sands struggled with her serve in the first set, making four double faults and landing only 45 percent of her first serves, but the American jumped out to 5-0 in the next set to level the match when Vinci sent a forehand wide.
Photo: AFP
Mattek-Sands finished the match despite a lower back injury. She was in pain at 3-2 in the decider, sobbing during the changeover, and calling a therapist to massage her left hip and thigh.
Wickmayer ousted teenager Christina McHale of the US 6-2, 7-5.
McHale saved three match points at 5-4, but Wickmayer converted her fourth match point when the youngest player in the top 50 sent a backhand wide.
Barthel defeated Pauline Parmentier 6-3, 6-0, hitting 26 winners to six for the French wild card. The German qualifier, who won the Hobart International last month in Australia, converted her second match point with a backhand cross-court winner.
Zakopalova advanced to her first quarter-final since the Korea Open in September, cruising past Tsvetana Pironkova 6-0, 6-3.
Kerber, a US Open semi-finalist, edged out Monica Niculescu of Romania 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.
In the quarter-finals, Kerber plays top seed Maria Sharapova, Wickmayer faces Barthel, Zakopalova meets sixth seed Julia Goerges of Germany and Vinci takes on Bartoli.
PATTAYA OPEN
AP, PATTAYA, THAILAND
Romania’s Sorana Cirstea reached the semi-finals of the Pattaya Open when top-seeded Vera Zvonareva of Russia retired yesterday with a left hip injury in the third set.
The match was even at 2-6, 6-4, 2-2 when Zvonareva pulled out and sent Cirstea into the next round.
“I rushed too much in the first set. Then I tried to be more patient and made her play more while my serves and returns were better in the second set,” Cirstea said.
“However, I didn’t notice that she was injured and was surprised she retired. I hope she will recover soon,” she added.
Cirstea, a 21-year-old Romanian who is seeded seventh, will next face either Maria Kirilenko of Russia or Tamarine Tanasugarn of Thailand.
“Either of them will be tough,” Cirstea said. “Tammy is an experienced player and the home fans will support her. Maria is playing well, coming from Australia.”
Taiwanese qualifier Hsieh Su-wei beat Sania Mirza of India 7-5, 6-3.
“I wasn’t concerned much about reaching the semifinal. I just want to play one good match at a time,” said Hsieh, who will next play either Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia or Vania King of the US.
Taiwan kept their hopes of advancing to next year’s World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Saturday, backed by solid pitching. Taiwan last night played against Nicaragua. As of press time, Nicaragua was leading 6-0. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan on Saturday kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen struck out one and allowed no hits, except for a hit-by-pitch over
Taiwan kept its hopes of advancing to the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC) alive with a 9-1 victory over South Africa in a qualifier at the Taipei Dome last night, backed by solid pitching. Bouncing back from Friday’s struggles on the mound, when Taiwanese pitchers surrendered 15 runs to Spain, Team Taiwan kept the visiting team in check, allowing just one run in the bottom of the fourth inning. The win was crucial for Taiwan, as a loss would have eliminated the team from contention for the next WBC. Starting pitcher Sha Tzu-chen (沙子宸) struck out one and allowed no hits, except for
Team Taiwan are set to face Spain in a win-or-go-home match tonight for the final berth at the 2026 World Baseball Classic (WBC), despite losing to Nicaragua 6-0 in the WBC qualifier at the Taipei Dome on Sunday. The home team’s loss on Sunday means Nicaragua finish first in the qualifier round in Taipei with a perfect 3-0 record and advances to next year’s finals. After crushing South Africa 9-1 earlier on Sunday, Spain took second place in the four-team qualifier with a 2-1 record. With a 1-2 record, Taiwan finished third while South Africa placed at the bottom with
Team Taiwan avoided missing the World Baseball Classic (WBC) for the first time by defeating Spain 6-3 in a do-or-die game in Taipei last night. After narrowly escaping a mercy-rule loss to Spain in the WBC Qualifiers opener on Friday last week, the home team — winner of last year's WBSC Premier12 title three months ago — got their revenge against the 2023 European champions at Taipei Dome. "It felt quite different from when we won the Premier12," Taiwan captain Chen Chieh-hsien (陳傑憲) said after the game, recalling the ups and downs the team has experienced over the past few days. Unlike in
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