Share this story!            

Tournament of Champions

Bartoli joins Rezai in Bali semi-finals

* Wickmayer withdraws after doping ban

DENPASAR: Top seed Marion Bartoli joined French compatriot Aravane Rezai in the semi-finals of the Bali Tournament of Champions with a 6-3, 6-2 defeat of Shahar Peer of Israel on Friday.

Bartoli completed the weekend lineup at the $600,000 tournament comprising the 10 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 Sunday. Two wildcards are also included. 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.

Japan’s Kimiko Date Krumm earned a place earlier Friday when Belgian Yanina Wickmayer quit on news of her one-year ban for missing doping tests. Wickmayer, the world number 18, was suspended 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.

Date Krumm was joined by Spain’s Maria Jose 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.

Australian 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. Stosur was a late qualifier for the Bali field thanks to a title in Osaka, the first of her singles career. Both women arrived in Bali at the last minute after competing in doubles at last week’s WTA Championships in Doha. Martinez Sanchez won the doubles title with Nuria Llagostera Vives, the seventh of the season, while Stosur and Rennae Stubbs lost in the semi-finals to Cara Black and Liezel Huber. afp

Home | Sport

Share this story!