Marion Bartoli of France (R) poses with the trophy after winning her final match against Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic (L) at the AEGON International tennis tournament in Eastbourne, southern England, yesterday. French sixth seed Bartoli defeated Kvitova, the fifth seeded Czech, 6-1, 4-6, 7-5
Reuters/London
Sixth seed Marion Bartoli overcame blustery winds, a groin injury and a determined fightback from Czech Petra Kvitova to win the Eastbourne grasscourt Wimbledon warmup tournament 6-1 4-6 7-5 yesterday. After losing in the semi-finals on the English south coast for the last four years, the 26-year-old Frenchwoman held on to win a topsy-turvy final in two hours 15 minutes to complete her preparation for Wimbledon which starts on Monday. Bartoli was the first to master the windy conditions and breezed through the opening set in 30 minutes, with her 21-year-old opponent making a series of loose shots and unforced forehand errors. The second set started in much the same way with Bartoli, seeded ninth at Wimbledon, one rung below Kvitova, racing into a 3-1 lead and seemingly set for the title. But the match began to turn when Kvitova’s coach David Kotyza came down from the stands to give her a few words of encouragement after a poor start and, whatever he said, it clearly worked. She began to find her range and form, winning the next three games to lead 4-3 before holding on to take the second set in 44 minutes. Bartoli’s control of the game seemed to ebb further away in the third game of the final set. Rosmalen: Italian seventh seed Roberta Vinci saw off Australian Jelena Dokic 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 7-5 to win the WTA tournament at Rosmalen yesterday, adding the crown to an earlier success this season in Barcelona. Dokic went down fighting in staving off three match points but finally conceded after 2hr 5min on court as Vinci landed her fifth career title. Former Wimbledon semi-finalist Dokic said the weather conditions had made life difficult but saluted her opponent. “The conditions were difficult, the wind, the cold, it wasn’t easy. But that takes nothing away from Roberta, who was a deserved winner. She didn’t crack on the big points.”