maria jose martinez sanchez

Pilot Pen Tennis presented by Shick
New Haven
Round 1 (32)

Ratournac's Finest Gains Revenge For Rome!

For the first set and a half of this match Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez performed like a player running on a hyperactive mix of caffeine and adrenalin! There was no question of the Spaniard putting in a half hearted effort, despite winning the doubles title in Toronto less than 48 hours earlier, then making the cross border jaunt down to New England - She pushed Marion hard.

Neither player had a single break point to defend over the course of the the first set. However, serving to stay in the set 4-5 down, Marion was broken and the set unfortunately went the way of the Spaniard.

Serving from both players was impressive, the Spaniard perhaps sensing that if she stood any chance on this surface against Marion then she really had to up her first serve. Martinez Sanchez won 95% of points when her first serve was in - which almost invariably it was (75%).

Eventually Marion found solutions, and broke her opponent in the 7th game of the 2nd set. Marion followed this up with a hold to love, then broke the Spaniard again to level the match at 1 set all.

Worn down by Marion's powerful first serving display, Martinez Sanchez was unable to maintain the high level she showed at the start of the match. Marion took a 3-0 lead in the deciding set and surrendered only 10 points throughout the set before the concluding the match in the Grandstand at Yale tennis center.

This is an encouraging start to the week in New Haven, and a little bit of redress or revenge for the crafty Spaniard's win in Rome a few months earlier.

In the next round Marion will play Magdalena Rybarikova. The talented teenager lost to Marion 6-0 6-4 in Monterrey in March, a tournament which Marion proceeded to win. So perhaps that's a good tiding for this encounter. However the talented teenager won her maiden title on the grass of Birmingham only two months ago. Promises to be another interesting contest

Match Statistics

Player	Marion Bartoli FRA	Maria J M Sanchez ESP
Aces	5	8
Double Faults	4	0
1st Serve %	67%	65%
1st Serve Pts Won	75%	70%
2nd Serve Pts Won	63%	40%
Break Points Saved	0/1	3/7
Service Games Played	13	13
1st Serve Return Pts Won	30%	25%
2nd Serve Return Pts Won	60%	38%
Break Points Won	4/7	1/1
Return Games Played	13	13
Total Service Pts Won	71%	59%
Total Return Pts Won	41%	29%
Total Pts Win	56%	44%
Duration	1hr 58mins 47secs
Fan Blog Moodset

Update

Seeding places have been anounced for the 2009 US Open. Marion is seeded #14.

Internazionali BNL d'Italia - Rome
Round 2

Early summary: www.marion-bartoli.net

Bête Noire

They say Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither is Marion's progress on clay; beaten today by Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez 6-1 7-5.

The relatively unknown Spaniard has wounded French affections over the years, with notable wins against former top ten star Sandrine Testud in 2001, and double grand slam champ Amelie Mauresmo on Sunday.

After a rainy day in Rome in which Marion's match was effectively delayed by some 5 hours, the highest ranked Frenchwoman was unable to avoid becoming the next French casualty of Martinez Sanchez clay court pedigree.

The six games which Marion won included only one service hold. Even at 4-2 up in the second one worried for her today.

The Spaniard repeatedly employed the tactic of drawing Marion towards the net to play a volley, only to lob a ball which Marion was unable to run back and retrieve - not helped by the heavy under foot conditions.

Claiming her debut tour title earlier this year on the clay of Bogata, the versatile 26 year old cemented her authority over the surface of experts; winning 57% of total points, and consigning Marion's Italian Open to dust, at least for another year.

The conditions may or may not have had much bearing on the outcome of play, but Dinara Safina complained, “The court was terribly slow and two times I fell down. You're afraid to play. It was very soft and difficult to slide,"

However Walter Bartoli made no comment on the conditions. Instead Walter explained after the result, "Marion has gaps in bursts of explosive pace from the back (of the court). But it is also a technical problem - it is exciting to have this topic grow."

Slow courts, just exactly the conditions to bring out the worst in the Bartoli game.

Today's loss is unfortunate, but Marion is still a respectable 9 wins to 4 defeats on clay so far this season. Marion can now return to the practice courts and prepare for one of her key clay targets in Madrid.

Match Stats

Statistics On Service

MB MMS
Aces 0 1
Double Faults 4 3
1st Serve % 59% 57%
1st Serve Points Won 55% 60%
2nd Serve Points Won 23% 50%
Break Points Saved 4/11 0/4
Service Games Played 3 4

Statistics On Return

1st Return Points Won 40% 45%
2nd Return Points Won 50% 77%
Break Points Won 4/4 7/11
Return Games Played 10 9

Statistics On Return

Total Service Points Won 42% 56%
Total Return Points Won 44% 58%
Total Points Won 43% 57%

1 hr 26 mins

Edited: 15:55 Wed 6 May 2009 - match observation and comment from Walter Bartoli

Photo: Creative Commons / Dmateo
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez

Tuesday 5 May 2009

Internazionali BNL d'Italia - Rome
Round 2

Marion Bartoli [FRA] vs.
Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez [ESP]

Match Preview

They have never played against eachother, and Marion could be excused if her knowledge of her next opponent isn't quite complete, but one thing you can be sure of, the moment Marion found out she would play a Spanish player on a clay court she knew she would be in for a tough match.

Spain has a long tradition of producing outstanding clay oourt players, most of the courts in Spain are clay after all.

Upon closer inspection of Martinez Sanchez results over the years, it is clear that her finest memories have been laid down on clay, and in a somewhat ironic twist, her greatest casualties have more often than not been French.

In 2001 Martinez Sanchez announced her presence on the professional tennis circuit by beating former top 10 star Sandrine Testud in Madrid, a player which some of us of a certain age may remember.

Then we come bang up to date with Martinez Sanchez win over former Australian and Wimbledon champion Amelie Mauresmo on Sunday. There haven't been too many world beating moments in the Spaniards career, but these are two of the best.

Oh, and did I mention her disposal of Pauline Parmentier en route to a debut tour final last year.. Ouch! L'Bleu...

One wonders why we haven't heard much of the 26 year old from the region of Murcia until quite recently? After her breakthrough year of 2001 in which she made her top 100 debut, she seemed to just vanish and became totally inactive during 2004.

In the past two or three years she begun to emerge and climb hundreds of places back up the rankings; arriving as a competitive force on the WTA tour last year - in other words it was last year that her name began to appear on your scoreboard and result sheets.

Martinez Sanchez finally won her debut tour title in Bogata earlier this year - a Clay, formerly tier IV event. She now enjoys a career high singles ranking of 48. A quite remarkable renaissance in the career of this mature pro.

YouTube unfortunately reveals little of any significance about this players game, but she is left handed, and I have seen more than one photo of her using slice forehand.

Clay courters tend to like the back of the court, but the fact that Martinez Sanchez is a recognised force in doubles, partnered by fellow Spaniards Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anabel Medina Garrigues, should make one cautious of labelling this player. Her stats against hard-hitting Indian Sania Mirza during Wimbledon show that she was far more willing to approach the net on that day than her opponent. She also gobbled up Sania's 2nd serves like a hungry man in a curry house.

Amelie Mauresmo has had a difficult time in tennis for a while now, nevertheless, on Sunday Sanchez Martinez beat one the finest tennis players in the women's game this millenium. Marion will need to show why she is French No.1 in order to prevent becoming another French casualty of this tricky Spaniard.

May the best player win.

Good luck Marion. Cummon Gel!!

Update

* Maria Jose sufferered a miscarriage and took some time out of tennis.

Order Of Play

CAMPO 6
start 1:00 pm

E Vesnina (RUS) vs [14] J Zheng (CHN)

[11] M Bartoli (FRA) vs M Martinez Sanchez (ESP)

[1] C Black (ZIM) / L Huber (USA)
vs A Bondarenko (UKR) / K Bondarenko (UKR)

G Dulko (ARG) / F Pennetta (ITA)
vs K Jans (POL) / A Rosolska (POL)