Bartoli to face Cibulkova in Carlsbad final

AFP/Atlanta

POWER PACKED: Marion Bartoli of France hits a return to Yung-Jan Chan of Taipei in their semi-final match during day eight of the Mercury Insurance Open presented by Tri-City Medical at La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, California. (AFP

Top seed Marion Bartoli reached her second final of the season Saturday, battling back to beat Taiwanese qualifier Chan Yung-jan 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 at the WTA Carlsbad tournament. The world number 10 from France will square off on Sunday for the title against second seed Dominika Cibulkova, who beat Russian Nadia Petrova 7-6 (10/8), 6-1. Bartoli passed her third consecutive three-set test, and has been on court in excess of nine hours this week. Cibulkova, in contrast, has yet to go past two sets and said that her light workload may benefit her title bid. “I feel really fresh and good. I didn’t have a three set match and all the other girls, they played crazy long matches,” said the 14th-ranked Slovak. “So I’m feeling really good for tomorrow, and I think it can be my advantage for me.” Bartoli, who has played with a sore hip, struggled mightily in the opening set and Chan, ranked 161st in the world, profited from the top seed’s 20 unforced errors. Bartoli said it wasn’t, in fact, her troublesome hip that bothered her in the early going but an ankle. “The doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories before the match started, and it took 45 minutes before they started to kick in,” she said. “I was feeling a lot better in the second and the third set, but obviously maybe I had a bit of fatigue from yesterday’s match when I finished really late. “She was also playing very well in the first set, so maybe the combination of the two made the first set 6-1 to her,” Bartoli added. Just when she looked headed for a quick exit Bartoli’s physical complaints faded away and she slowly began to take charge of the match against her less experienced opponent. Bartoli earned and then surrendered an early second-set break but broke again for a 5-3 lead on her way to levelling the match. She opened the third set with a break as Chan’s game began to fray. “I tried to really stay focused and positive and I’m glad I was able to turn it around,” Bartoli said. Chan held for 3-4 in a game that went to deuce six times, but she couldn’t stop Bartoli’s momentum as the French player held serve, then claimed the contest with a service break as Chan double-faulted to give her three match points then sent a forehand long on the first. Bartoli, who emerged with the victory despite 14 double-faults and no aces, will be seeking her first title since she won in Osaka in October of 2011. Cibulkova reached her first final since the clay court tournament in Barcelona in April.

Monaco clinchesHamburg title Hamburg: Argentine Juan Monaco defeated home hope Tommy Haas 7-5, 6-4 to claim his third title of the season in the ATP clay-court event in Hamburg yesterday. The 28-year-old Monaco, ranked 14th in the world and seeded third here, added to his titles from Vina del Mar in Chile and Houston, Texas on clay this year to bring his career tally to six. Former world number two Haas, 34, was playing his second final of the season, after beating Wimbledon champion Roger Federer on grass to lift the Halle title last month. “He played some fantastic tennis but I am happy and proud to have played another final here on home soil in front of my family,” said Haas, who has mounted a resurgence in the world rankings this year after falling outside the top 200 following hip and shoulder injuries. “That gives me motivation for the future.” It was his fourth consecutive defeat at the hands of Monaco, who will break into the world top ten when the latest rankings are announced today.

Bellucci claims second Gstaad title Gstaad, Switzerland: Brazilian Thomaz Bellucci won the Gstaad clay-court tournament for the second time yesterday with a come-from-behind three set victory over top seeded Serb Janko Tipsarevic. The 24-year-old left hander won through 6-7 (6/8), 6-4, 6-2 for his third ATP title and second in the Swiss resort after 2009. Eighth-ranked Tipsarevic had been bidding for a second straight title after Stuttgart a week ago but could find no answer to world number 60 Bellucci.

Hercog rallies to defend Bastad title Sweden: Slovenia’s Polona Hercog rallied from a set down to defeat French hope Mathilde Johansson and successfully defend her title at the Swedish Open here yesterday. Sweden-born Johansson had been hoping to lift her first title in the country of her birth, but despite a bright start, she fell 0-6, 6-4, 7-5 to 21-year-old Hercog, ranked three places below her at world number 86.