Ivanovic and Bartoli join an already impressive field

The Bank of the West Classic player field got even more impressive on Tuesday when former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic and 2011 French Open semifinalist Marion Bartoli entered the 2011 event that will be held this summer at Stanford University.

At just 23 years of age, Ivanovic already has put together an impressive resume recording a 279-117 career singles record, winning 10 career WTA singles titles, capturing her first Grand Slam singles title at the 2008 French Open, and ascending to the world No. 1 ranking in June 2008.

Off the court, Ivanovic's striking good looks and warm personality have made her one of the world's most glamorous and marketable athletes. She has been featured in numerous fashion and lifestyle publications including Vogue, Vanity Fair, ELLE, Cosmopolitan and Time Magazine. In addition she was featured in last year's Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue and in 2009 was ranked 11th on FHM's Sexiest Women in the World list.

Bartoli, the 2009 Bank of the West Classic champion, advanced to her first French Open semifinal on Tuesday with a 7-6 (7-4), 6-4 win over Svetlana Kuznetsova. She becomes only the fourth French woman in the Open Era to reach the semifinals at Roland Garros joining Francoise Durr, Brigitte Simon and Mary Pierce. The French No. 1 will face defending French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the semifinals.

Bartoli already has put together a solid 2011 season reaching two Tour finals at Indian Wells and Strasbourg, as well as semifinal berths at Brisbane and Doha. She is currently ranked No. 11 in the world but ascended to a career-high No. 9 world ranking in 2007 following her final's appearance that year at Wimbledon.

The addition of Ivanovic and Bartoli adds to what is already a strong player field. The event already has commitments from three-time Grand Slam champion Maria Sharapova, 13-time Grand Slam champion Serena Williams and current World No. 6 Samantha Stosur.

Tickets for the event, which will be held July 25-31 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium on the campus of Stanford University, can be purchased by calling the box office at 866-WTA-TIXS (866-982-8497) or by logging on to www.BankoftheWestClassic.com.

Single-session tickets for the tournament's opening round start at just $26. Fans also may pre-purchase parking passes for the event for just $10.

Relentless consistency makes Wozniacki a strong World No.1

The casual tennis fan finds the lull between the Australian Open and the Parisian clay an exercise in thumb twiddling.

The more observant one on the other hand, salivates the moment the Indian Wells tennis tournament gets underway, for it rarely fails to draw the top ranked players from both the men's and women's game.

For all the disappointment surrounding her loss to Li Na in the Australian Open, Caroline Wozniacki has continued to do what she does best. Just go out and play! Even her biggest critic could not possibly argue against her twin strengths of fitness and consistency. Her opponent in today's final, Marion Bartoli had been playing for the past two years without any success, so the match represented her chance to remind the tennis fan of that glorious fortnight at SW19 in 2007, where she used all her French bravardo to get to the final.

As it played out, the match gave us some very high quality tennis,with the defence of Wozniacki refusing to break down in the face of an extremely brave comeback from Bartoli. Wozniacki eventually prevailed 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.

From the very start Wozniacki kept hitting the ball deep, absorbing the power off the Bartoli groundstrokes. In the very first game, with Bartoli serving, a cross court backhand winner after running her opponent ragged from side to side, gave Caroline the early lead. It was also an indication of how the first set would go.

Even though Bartoli would break back immediately, it proved to be the only game she would win in the entire set. She kept being forced into errors as Wozniacki expertly moved her around the court. The Dane didn't hit too many winners, but ensured that the point was always long enough for Bartoli to make the mistake.

It also did not help that Bartoli struggled mightily on her serve. She faced break points in every single game and one single statistic is enough evidence in this case to prove just how dominant Wozniacki was in the return game. Bartoli won but 3 points on her own serve!

The first set seemed indicative of a quick match and the restless crowd did not seem overly keen to encourage a fightback. After all, there was the mouth watering prospect of the Nadal - Djokovic match on the men's side and most of them must have thought of the women's final as some kind of unknown opening act, before the supergroup took the stage.

Bartoli though evoked the spirit of her most famous win. In the Wimbledon semi-final against the now retired Justine Henin, she had lost the first set 1-6 and had fought back to win the match. From the recesses of her brain, those happy moments rose to the fore with a simply delightful display of agressive tennis. She won her first service game with a thumping ace and then proceeded to attack the Wozniacki serve.

The second game of the second set proved to be pivotal as Wozniacki was taken to deuce and the points became longer and longer but this time Bartoli was finding all the lines and all the angles. A scorching backhand cross court return set up the break point and Bartoli was rewarded for her efforts in the form of a 2-0 lead. She held her serve easily and in the face of this assault, the Dane seemed to need some paternal guidance and Piotr stepped out to the court to offer some advice to his ward.

Wozniacki finally managed to hold serve and get on the board for the second set and then fought her way to deuce on the Bartoli serve, but the Frenchwoman was undeterred by this brief semblance of a comeback, as she maintained her composure and took a 4-1 lead.

Bartoli's serve continued to move from strength to strength and the Danish number 1 had no answer, especially from the backhand wing and with another break of serve, the Indian Wells final moved to the final set, with the Frenchwoman in the ascendancy and the Dane wondering how a match she so singularly dominated had turned on its head so quickly.

The third set began with Bartoli serving and the rallies were long and of high quality. The opening game went to deuce. Wozniacki managed to win one of the longest points in the match and got her foot in the door with a break point. A sweet backhand pass down the line gave Caroline another break point. Bartoli was breathing heavily now, a sign that her inferior fitness might be tested soon.

Wozniacki broke and took the early lead as both players rushed for their towels after that exhausting game. Wozniacki held serve and then had a chance to take a commanding lead when Bartoli's next service game presented her with a 0-40 opportunity , however the Frenchwoman fought back gamely and Wozniacki's backhand inexplicably lost its range on three straight points. Bartoli had kept the bleeding to a minimum but she still had to recover from the early break.

On her next service game though, Bartoli served 2 double faults, in what was her worst service game of the match and got broken to love. Wozniacki was 4-1 up and the writing was on the wall. The Frenchwoman did manage to break back once and thus get back to 4-3, but the double break was just too much to overcome and in the end Caroline Wozniacki proved why at the end of the day, her relentless consistency is what makes her number 1 in the world.

Tennis: Ana Ivanovic knocked out

Bartoli, Wickmayer reach semis in Indian Wells.

Marion Bartoli and Yanina Wickmayer grabbed the opportunity presented in the wide open bottom half with contrasting victories to reach the semi-finals. Bartoli made the best of her new found consistency to upend former world No.1 Ana Ivanovic’s dream of a grand return to top flight tennis with a laborious 64 76(4) victory and become the first player to reach the last four of the $4.5mn BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells. Yanina Wickmayer removed the highest remaining seed in the bottom half, when she thrashed the 10^th seeded Shahar Peer 63 63 in just 62 minutes.

In the first match of the day, Ivanovic failed to produce the tennis she brought to bear on defending champion Jelena Jankovic in the earlier round. Bartoli fired a thumping forehand down the line return winner to earn a breakpoint in the first game. For the third time in the game, Ivanovic drove into the net to offer an early break to the Frenchwoman.

With neither player serving well enough, the first three games went against serve before Bartoli held in the fourth game to take a 3-1 lead. But this was a contest in which the breaks came in a flurry and Ivanovic clawed her way back to even the score by the sixth game.

A sweetly timed lob at 30-30 in the ninth game allowed Bartoli to sniff yet another break and when Ivanovic dumped her forehand in the net, the 15^th seed served out the set with an elegantly smashed winner off a weak return.The second set was a see saw battle that contained an astonishing eight service breaks. While there was a lot to be desired about the quality of tennis being produced, the constant breaks of serve were providing for an intense phase that swung one way then the other. Ivanovic began the tie-break much the same way she had the first two sets, gifting Bartoli a mini-break with an untimely double fault.

With Bartoli serving at 5-4, Ivanovic rushed to the net only to dump the volley in the net. The Frenchwoman sealed the match with a big serve and an overhead smash to claim victory in two hours and 7 minutes. The match was characterised by the thirteen breaks of serve, corroborated by the fact that neither player managed to win even half the points on serve.

In the other match, the Belgian 23^rd seed was more than Peer could handle on the day. Wickmayer sprayed winners from all parts of the court to completely dominate the Israeli from the sixth game in the first set. At one point, Peer managed to win just a solitary game during a stretch of nine games.The 10^th seed offered a token of resistance towards the end by breaking the Belgian in the eighth game of the second set to get to 5-3. But in the very next game, Wickmayer took her first match point with a powerful forehand return that forced an error from Peer to close out the match.

Wickmayer will play Bartoli in the semi-finals on Friday, taking a 0-2 career deficit into the match against the Frenchwoman. Thursday’s action will see the top half contest their two quarter-finals. In what promises to be a cracking encounter, world No.1 Caroline Wozniacki will take on the in form Victoria Azarenka. The Dane has a slender 3-2 career edge against the world No. 9 Belarusian. In the other match, Maria Sharapova will take on the Chinese star Shuai Peng.

Alisa Kleybanova, Marion Bartoli win in style

Kleybanova, Bartoli win in style to keep glamour alive

Defending champion Alisa Kleybanova and second seed Marion Bartoli restored order and respect by winning their first-round matches in fine style in the BMW Malaysian Open tennis tournament at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian and Country Resort here last night.

The US$220,000 tournament lost its highest ranked player in French Open champion Francesca Schiavone of Italy when she was knocked out by Australian Jelena Dokic on Monday. And the organisers heaved a sigh of relief yesterday as Kleybanova and Bartoli remained in control throughout the proceedings.

Kleybanova needed just an hour to defeat China’s Lu Jingjing 6-1, 6-1, who came through from the qualifying rounds.

The lanky 22-year-old Russian, who defeated the now retired Elena Dementieva to win her first WTA title last year, will be up against Michaella Krajicek of Holland tomorrow.

Krajicek defeated Tatjana Malek of Germany 6-3, 6-2 to set up a date with the defending champion, who is playing as the third seed this time.

“Really there was no game plan as far as this match was concerned,” said Kleybanova, who had defeated Jingjing in their only previous meeting last year in Beijing.

“I went out there and played tennis to the best of my ability. Defending the title requires me to take one hurdle at a time and I will do just that as the players in this tournament are no pushovers.

“I have played against Krajicek several times. It will be no different tomorrow as she is also familiar with my game. I will just go out there and try to make it to the next round.”

French player Bartoli also enjoyed an easy day on centre court as she brushed aside Maria Elena Camerin of Italy 6-0, 6-1.

Bartoli, who will take on Ekaterina Ivanova of Russia in the second round tomorrow, hammered away relentlessly in the second set and later expressed her satisfaction with the opening round show.

“I did not have to try too hard as it was not difficult. I was confident going into the match. I knew what I needed to do,” said the world No. 18.

It was also curtains down for another Asian player, Thailand’s Tamarine Tanasugaran. She was blown away earlier by a rampant Bojana Jovanoski.

The Serbian won 6-0, 6-1 and will take on Urszula Radwaska of Poland in the second round.

Wildcard recipient Jarmila Groth of Australia defeated Sun Shengnan of China 7-6, 6-3 to move into the second round. Also winning her opening round match was Kurumi Nara of Japan, who got the better of Elena Bovina of Russia 6-3, 6-3.

Marion Bartoli eases through

Second seed Marion Bartoli breezed through the first round of the Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur with a straight-sets victory over Maria Elena Camerin.

The Frenchwoman saw off her Italian opponent - who served seven double faults - 6-0 6-1 in one hour and 12 minutes in the Malaysian capital. Bartoli now faces Ekatarina Ivanova after the Russian outduelled her compatriot Nina Bratchikiova 6-3 4-6 6-4.

Third seed and defending champion Alisa Kleybanova also cruised through 6-1 6-1 against Lu Jing Jing from China but number seven seed Kimiko Date-Krumm was upset by qualifier Anne Kremer, the Luxembourg player prevailing 4-6 6-2 7-6 (7/5).

Jarmila Groth beat Sun Shengnan 7-6 (7/2) 6-3, Bojana Jovanovski saw off Tamarine Tanasugarn 6-0 6-1, while there were also wins for Dinara Safina, Michaella Krajicek, Misaki Doi and Kurumi Nara.

Bartoli downs Ivanovic to advance

Holder Marion Bartoli advanced to the quarter-finals of the Stanford Classic with a 6-3 6-4 win over former world number one Ana Ivanovic, while Maria Sharapova also advanced to the last eight.

Russian Sharapova, a three-times Grand Slam winner, beat Belarus's Olga Govortsova 6-3 6-3 while Maria Kirilenko defeated sixth seed Shahar Peer 6-4 6-3.

American teenager Melanie Oudin lost 6-3 6-1 to eighth seed Victoria Azarenka.

Sharapova dictated the action off the ground against the erratic Govortsova, and served and returned well enough to control most of the points.

"I stayed aggressive and made sure to have an extra something on my ball," said the fifth-seeded Sharapova, who will face second seed Elena Dementieva of Russia in the quarter-finals.

"I thought I had the advantage when I hit a good solid serve and then tried to take the ball and do something with it."

Frenchwoman Bartoli, who beat Venus Williams to win the 2009 Stanford title, served and returned aggressively against Ivanovic.

"I'm really pleased I was finally able to get past her," said Bartoli, who had lost all three of her previous meetings against the Serbian.

"I'm moving a lot better so I'm able to get the ball back with interest when she hits the ball hard. I managed to play the big points well and that's the type of matches I need this summer."

Bartoli will face Azarenka, who believes she can regain a place among the world's top 10.

"I think I played very well," Azarenka said. "It was a little tough at the beginning with a couple of service breaks, but I felt strong the whole match.

Peer had beaten Kirilenko in New Zealand at the start of the season but this time the Russian was in control.

"This time I decided to be a lot more aggressive," Kirilenko said. "This year has been so much better and given me a lot of confidence."

Kirilenko will meet third seed Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in the quarter-finals, while top seed Samantha Stosur of Australia will play Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium.

Reuters