sabine lisicki

GROUP A	GROUP B	GROUP C	GROUP D
M Bartoli FRA S Peer ISR M Rybarikova SVK	S Stsour AUS M J Martinez Sanchez ESP A Szavay HUN	Y Wickmayer BEL A Medina Garrigues ESP K Date-Krumm JPN	S Lisicki GER M Czink HUN A Rezai FRA

 

Commonwealth Bank Tournament Of Champions
Bali International Convention Center
4-8 Nov 2009
Nusa Dua, Bali, Indonesia
WTA $600,000
Surface – Indoor Hard
Format – 12 player round robin (4 groups of 3 players)

FULL PREVIEW

TIGNOR'S TAKE - On his blog last month Steve Tignor recognised how Marion "Bartoli had what looked like a promising summer stolen away by Kim Clijsters, who beat her at two tournaments, one of which was the U.S. Open. Now that Clijsters is safely back at home, maybe Bartoli can pick up where she left off in Stanford."

RECOVERY – With a quarter final in Tokyo and semi final in Beijing, Marion has indeed recovered well from the Clijsters double-wammy. Even before the season has came to a close you can see from the graph below, Marion has performed better this season compared with the other seasons she has been a top 20 player. A statistic which corroborates the result of a recent blog poll about Marion’s level of play.

FATIGUE - However during her most recent tournament in Osaka she complained of having "a little tendinitis that I had already had at Stanford," explaining that, "The end of season is hard for girls who, like me, have much heavier ball. I hope to recuperate." (L'Equipe) The following day the French number 1 retired from her match with Sania Mirza, this time with a painful shoulder tendon problem.

With a whole month between the end of the US Open and the start of the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo, you may ask how Marion could feel such tiredness and fatigue? The answer is when you are a professional athlete you always have to maintain your condition, a state of readiness. Even between tournaments it is always defcon 4 with team Bartoli, and defcon 5 when noble hostilities resume. So there is never really any off-time in the literal sense.

LA BIDASSE EN BALI - Now, nearing the end of this season’s battle, the walking wounded soldiers on bravely. Hero and all that. It's therefore quite appropriate that the tennis season should end in paradise! The provincial coastal idyll of Bali has a vibrant cultural life, terrific appetite for leisure and sporting interests, and a renowned reputation for welcoming visitors from all around the world. With its gently lapping waves and beach lifestyle Bali is a suitable final tour stop for la bidasse Bartoli, but she isn't there to convalecse.. The outdoor forecast for the next five days is 32c, and the competition at the Bali Convention Center in Nusa Dua is sure to be hot come the start of the tournament on Wednesday. As for the indoor forecast; Stosur, Wickmayer, Peer, and Lisicki look to be main challengers to Marion Bartoli. However the 2006 runner up enters the reincarnated Commonwealth Bank event as the top ranked player this time, and overwhelming favorite to win the title according to blog visitors. Let's now take a look at four potential obstacles in Marion's path..

SAM STOSUR - is fresh from winning her first singles title and has enjoyed a great year, which included a semi final finish at the French Open. Upon taking the title in Osaka, Stosur beamed, “My next goal is to reach the top 10 for which I would need to play like today, every day.”

Her manager Paul Kilderry thinks, “If she can maintain that consistency I think it’s just a matter of time.” Osaka is “the culmination of a great year", reflected Kilderry. "..obviously her ranking and her level of play’s been very consistent from the start of the year and it’s a nice reward for a lot of hard work." Stosur's website,

At Stanford Marion pointed out Stosur is a player on the rise, a player with a huge serve, and a player in the running for a place in the top 10. Marion showed guts to beat Stosur that week over three sets.

After recovering from illness in 2008, Stosur is clearly hungry and motivated to realise her ambition.
HEAD TO HEAD 1-1

YANINA WICKMAYER - How can a player on the margins of the top 100 start the year so horribly with 5 consecutive defeats, then go on to win two maiden titles, enjoy a semi final finish at the US Open, and break into the top 20? Granted, the Belgian avoided all the marquee players in New York right until the semi final.

It's all the more remarkable given the lack of stability in her coaching set up. In the past 12 months Wickmayer has experimented with Dutch coach Glen Schapp, and Justine's Henin's long-time coach Carlos Rodriguez. She has also worked with former Belgian pro Ann Devries, and been a sparring partner with Flemmish friend Kim Clijsters (source; Wickmayer's website), yet according to wikipedia Wickmayer remains without a coach.

It's impressive how Wickmayer has thrived without the guidance and support of a regular coach. But if the independent way works for her, then power to her. Even if the substance underlying her sudden success is a mystery, her form can certainly be considered every bit as amazing as that shown by fellow Belgian Kim Clijsters. We monitor her progress with interest.
HEAD TO HEAD 0-0

SABINE LISICKI - Yes she will be vaunted as the glamor puss of Bali (very bored), and yes she enters the tournament by the backdoor courtesy of a wildcard, but be in no doubt the big German is serious beast in tennis terms, and totally merits the wildcard offered her. Last week she reached the final in Luxembourg. She has also reached the quarter final stage at Wimbledon, and blew away a bevvy of top names to take her maiden title in Charleston - A premier tournament at that. She beat Venus, Marion, and Wozniacki en route, her serve exceeding speeds previously set by Venus Williams. Lisicki seems a more fierce-some player now than the one I watched lose to Marion at Wimbledon last year.

Such physical commitment can be punishing on the body, "Before the US Open I injured my shoulder" she wrote last week in her Sony Ericsson WTA Tour player blog, "..there was a big question mark over whether I'd even play there, but four days before I was able to start practicing again, so I was able to go. Unfortunately I twisted my ankle during my match there, and then I got food poisoning in China a few weeks ago too. But I'm a fighter and I never let those things break me down."
HEAD TO HEAD 1-1

SHAHAR PEER - Not considered a top contender to take the title in Bali, but a player from our perspective who always hassles Marion, and preferably one to be avoided in the group stage. She has great stamina, will dig deep no matter the score-line, and hang in there waiting for her opponent to finally crack, fall, and wail before the wall - the counterpuncher - A percentage and error inducing player. Trouble.. in the nicest posible sense.

Recalling the diplomatic incident that arose earlier this year, Peer told the Jerusalem Post of her relief to receive a visa this time, "I'm happy this issue has been settled and that I can play in Bali, "I'm looking forward to this event and I'm especially pleased with the fact that the Dubai scandal did not repeat itself." Although predominantly Hindu, Bali is a small province within the much larger and generally benign Islamic country of Indonesia.

Since the fall-out from said "scandal" subsided, Peer has finally been able to focus on her tennis and move up the rankings a bit. The former world number 17 has still a bit of ground to make up to get to the ranking she had in 2007 and 2006, but with back to back titles in Guangzhou and Tashkent she has every right to feel she can do well here and go all the way. Her recent form is certainly suggestive of dark horse material at the very least, or Trojan horse were Bartolian ambitions are concerned. Real threat.
HEAD TO HEAD 1-6

THE PELETON - Turning to the other players playing Bali, the two Spaniard's Anabel Medina Garrigues and Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez will firstly be pleased simply to have qualified for this great event. However both players typically play their best tennis on clay and look outsiders for the title. Magdalena Rybarikova has long maintained that she plays her best tennis on grass, she proved this In June by winning Birmingham and thus qualify for Bali. Aravane Rezai qualifies virtue of her unexpected win in Strasbourg and recently lost in straight sets to Marion in Tokyo. Melinda Czink and Agnes Szavay lead a surprise and very welcome Magyar contingent in Bali. On the cusp of the top 10 just over a year ago, Szavay has shown signs of apprehending her calamitous ranking reversal, while Czink is enjoying the best season of her long and winding career, including a debut title in Quebec.

KIMIKO DATE-KRUMM - is the last card in the pack, the 39 year old Japanese ace recently returned to professional tennis after an absence of 12 years, and became 2nd oldest player in tour history to win a title when she took the Hansol Open in Korea. "Maybe some people think it's too crazy, but I'm enjoying a lot," Date Krumm said during the LA Women's Tennis Championships. "For me it's not only for the ranking or always to win the tournament. It's just to enjoy life. Before when I play, after losing it was like everything finished. Now I have more wide views."

Not only is Date-Krumm the player who has held the highest rank of all assembled players in Bali (No.4 1996), but more recently gave US Open finalist Caroline Wozniacki a torrid time at Wimbledon before finally going down in three sets, also narrowly losing to Lisicki in a close three setter in LA. She has stood up well against two of the biggest draws in women’s tennis today.

Date-Krumm doesn't do brutal cannon-power tennis, her dying craft is more that of a swords-woman, with net surges and forehand jabs, it's tactile tennis, and by this she will win, she will lose, she will live, she will die. That's her game. Her 'classic' forehand technique is a point of curiosity for some.

"Everybody hits harder, more powerful, more speedy," she said. "A long time ago, in my generation, everybody was using more the head and more the tactics, and tennis I think was more interesting to watch and play. Now everybody says my style is old style, but I don't care. It's working so I don't care." It's the kind of commendable individualism and defiance which has also characterised team Bartoli over the years. So fans of Marion can easily find grounds of affinity and respect for the way Date-Krumm is doing things on her own terms, and why not.

Date-Krumm is rank outsider to lift the tournament, but will be the sentimental favorite in Bali for sure. She's my pick for a semi final place.

PRIDE – So to wrap things up, whatever the outcome of this tournament Marion Bartoli Fan Blog has PRIDE in the terrific effort and results Marion Bartoli has submitted this year. To be in with a chance of returning to the Top 10 after the Clijsters rumble and "catastrophic" spring hard court season is just marvellous. She is strong in 2009, and if fit this coming week, has the arsenal to deal with all her opponents and be crowned champion of champions.

CELEBRATE - Bali is of course a great place to celebrate spirituality, with its fine temples, and veneration of the gods and goddesses. Let’s look forward to our very own goddess having something to celebrate next week. Let’s do this Marion. I believe in you.

     Marion Bartoli 2006 Bali runner up, and Svetlana Kuznetsova winner

Vera Dushevina is the reserve player
*Bidasse means soldier

      
   (Photo: Porsche Press Database)

These two Knights of the court will joust and battle for a place in the last 8 of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix

Thursday 30 April 2009
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix -Stuttgart
Round Of 16
Court 1 - 2pm

C. Wozniacki [DEN] v M. Bartoli [FRA]

Match Preview

It used to be thought that clay was the one chink in the armour of Caroline Wozniacki. But by claiming the title in Ponte Vedra Beach, and following it up with a final in Charleston, it's becoming harder by the month for the opposition to clutch at the remaining straws. The overall progress that the 18 year old has made in such a short space of time is impressive. Two places ahead of Marion in the rankings, and one of, if not the outstanding young talent in women's tennis today. Marion even went so far to compare the Dane to Martina Hingis. Praise indeed.

Enthusing over her burgeoning clay pedigree, Wozniacki say's, "I have much more confidence playing on clay and I proved myself that I can compete with the best on Clay as well."

"Before I came into the clay court season, I wasn't really comfortable on clay. I thought that clay was the surface that I like the least. But after these two weeks, I really proved myself wrong. I really think that I've played some great tennis, and I've proved that I'm good on this surface as well."

Who can contest Caroline's assesment.

After three matches Marion is yet to claim a set off Wozniacki. Might as well pack up and go home then eh?

Hold your horses..

In their last encounter on the hard courts of New Haven, Caroline purposely set about taking the game to Marion. She understands what a serious threat Marion can be with her powerful shots and her angles. On that day last summer Caroline dictated play. Yet the question remains whether or not she will be able to exert such dominance against a player like Marion on a clay court, after all Sabine Lisicki pounced on every short ball Caroline delivered and simply belted the Dane off the court in the same way that the German had done against every other opponent the whole week.

Not quite the finished product on clay herself, Marion nevertheless has more experience on the surface than her young adversary, and if Dinara Safina's analysis of the Stuttgart courts are to be accepted, the red clay is actually playing quite fast. If so, this is another factor which could favor Marion, not to mention indoor courts don't suffer from the pace altering effects of wind.

On paper that last match in New Haven was quite a drubbing, but in truth the games where actually very evenly balanced, just being swung by the big points.

Clay may suit the more defensive of players, but I feel if she play's as agressive as she can, keep's her nerve on the big points, then Marion can win this match. She will do her best.

Whatever happens, I would bank on a much closer scoreline this time.

Have a good match. May the best player win. C'MON MARION!!!!!! CUMMMON!!!

Wozniacki - Lisicki (Charleston final)

Quotes
charleston.net
carolinewozniacki.dk

Someone uploaded the 2nd set of last week’s match with Sabine Lisicki.

Some of Sabine shots look nigh on unplayable. Even the mighty Venus with all her wingspan couldn’t get a racquet to some of that stuff, as she discovered.

Marion abhors defeatism, and she always tries her best, no one can blame her for shaking her head at times though.. Sabine Lisicki was in exceptional form all week in Charleston.

Perhaps with Marion getting the first serves in it gave Sabine a little less pace to play with on return and Marion a bit more time to adjust and respond. But you can see how quickly Lisicki’s long legs covered the court.. It was like. two strides forward and she’s at the net for a put away..

But if ever a defeat can be a win-win situation, then Charleston could be one such occasion. Reaching the last four of the Family Circle Cup for the first time is a positive mark to have left on the green clay, just ahead of taking to the red stuff over on this side of the Atlantic... and no I don’t mean Burgundy....... though you may need a glass after watching these clips!

Marion always does her best. We can ask for nothing more. Braveheart.

Part 1

Part 2

Unfortunately my notebook died yesterday. So It was piggy bank time again.. Hopefully this computer will prove a lot more durable than the previous one. It should, it’s a better brand.... Just one thing however.. It’s pink!!! Me... PINK!!! Matches the imaginary piggy I suppose.. Oh well, it’s less boring than black.

Hmmm.. The Imaginary Piggy, nice name for a little bistro, where Burgundy is served under canopies in the sunshine, nearby finest Corsican olive groves.... ok back down to earth.. it's to rain here soon and this has nothing to do with tennis!!

Family Circle Cup Charleston Semi Final

 Marion opted for security - high percentage of first balls in play and no aces. Lisicki played with the power which has carried her right through this week; big serves, aces, winners, and some double faults, just penetrating Marion's service games. Neverthess it's been a pretty positive week for Marion who just came up against an on fire player. Always proud of you

Marion, Sometimes it's just not meant to be.   

Next time.

Summary at: www.marion-bartoli.net

Update 09:30  04/20/09 

MATCH STATS

Statistics On Service

                                             MB       SL

Aces                                       0          5            
Double Faults                         3          4 
1st Serve Percentage            73%     58%
1st Serve Points Won             53%     79% 
2nd Serve Points Won           36%     43%
Break Points Saved                3/8       2/3
Service Games Played           8          8

Statistics On Return

1st Return Points Won            21%     47%
2nd Return Points Won          57%     64%
Break Points Won                   1/3       5/8
Return Ganes Played                 

Statistics On Points  

Total Service Points              48%    64%
Total Return Points               36%    52%
Total Points Won                   42%    58%

Sabine Lisicki
(Photo Paul B Patzold / Creative Commons)

Family Circle Cup
Charleston
Semi Final

M. Bartoli [FRA] v S. Lisicki [GER]

The story of my own first experience at the famous Wimbledon centre court, my first ever experience of seeing Marion play in the flesh, and also my first ever day attending tennis matches, has been imortalised by your's trully in blog posts from June 2008 and ought not be repeated ad nauseum Yes, Marion Bartoli v Sabine Lisicki. And Marion won.

But..... I casually promised myself each year that I would someday remove thy Fanny Adams out of its anglo-Bridget Jones post-human chocgasmic misery-gut, and get down to Wimbledon one year.. to experience the ambience, to just sense, is it really like it is on the telly? Will Sue Barker and John Lloyd be there? And will I get a crash course in how to speak English properly the way nice people do, so that non Scots can understand a word I am saying! :) 

As the Floecist said *insert deft literary allusion*, it took Marion Bartoli to ignite the solar in ya plexus! And although the poor chick was stuck with a daft fan (moi) in the corner of her eye instead of Pierce Brosnan. That night on centre court was my Pierce Brosnan moment, and it was Kinda special.

I even have finger nails now you know, stopped biting them to death, and can even insert the odd Tignoresque dinner-party literary allusion to Joan Didion or more probably Julie Burchill and Lady Sovereign, as per my level lol.... And hey, who knows, I quite fancy that nowadays I could probably give Marion a good run for her money over 10k.. but just don't turn it into a tennis biathlon with Bartoli bear as the bet... cos i'm sure Marion would win hands down, and Bartoli Bear would be off to take up a new residence in Tartegnin Switzerland. Who is Bartoli Bear you say? Oh nevermind lol.. 

By the way, what's a dinner party?  

Anyway, enough of my testimonia about the therapeutic power of the Beastie.   On to the match...

Unlike most of the players Marion has played in the past month, the defenders, tacticians, all courters, and counter punchers... Lisicki by contrast is every bit the model big hitting girl. A lot of people think she's a big hitting model too.. but that's another story..

When I saw Lisicki play that night on center court, I guess my over-arching impresion was that she seemed to be playing well, just that Marion's was player even weller (Walls Cone Tumbling Down? NOOOOOOOOO Not THAT one.... weller as in better, get me?.)

It was a hard match, hard hitting rally's, end to end, side to side, with some occasional thrills and spills at the net to keep the ultra understated crowd just a wee WEE bit very VERY interested, In fact I took a video on my old Nokia camphone of a single game which lasted a few seconds shy of 10 minutes! (see below)

That was grass, this is clay, but I don't see a whole bunch of difference. Both Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki have powerful shots and prefer fast hard and grass courts. Lisicki has the humungous serve and earrings to match, Marion has the bangin' returns and a look to strike you down if you meet with her displeasure... Uh huh... What's that got to with the price of a Prince Speedsport you say,  not much, but small gestures matter to women. We take things personally apparently ;D

I think that 'Neil' commenter, the one who got all fussed over that teeny weeny gesture; the positioning of Marion's WTA badge, was probably just a female troll in cyber-drag. :))

Good luck Marion.

"I had the advantage because we played on Centre Court. With my experience at Wimbledon it was a lot easier to play her there, so I beat her quite easily. But she beat Venus here and she's in the semi finals, so it's going to be very difficult. If I'm playing the same way as I played tonight, I think it's going to be a great match"

<

Saturday 18 April - Order Of Play

Start 11:00 AM

Kveta Peschke / Lisa Raymond v Bethanie Mattek Sands / Nadia Petrova

Elena Demntieva v Caroline Wozniacki

NB 01:00 PM

Marion Bartoli v Sabine Lisicki

Shuai Peng / Zi Yan v Liga Dekmeijere / Patty Schnyder

#
WIMBLEDON CHAMPIONSHIPS > LONDON > GRAND SLAM > GRASS >

R1 After standing at the back of court 2 for 7 hours, on top of 3 hours waiting for admission to the grounds, and  on top of a 19 hour journey to reach the grounds.. I can say that come 8 o clock lastnight I genuinely felt absolutely fantastic.. because it doesnt get any better than seeing ones gladiator perform victory in the colluseum of tennis heroism! Seeing Marion stand there on the very same soil where once stood her own inspiring legends Monica Seles and Pete Sampras.

As the day wore on it was becoming apparent that Marion’s match was unlikely to get under way on court 2, considering the overrun. At around half past six, I happened to notice Marion and her father arrive in the players restaraunt which overlooks court 2. Just doing the usual things, father attentively fetching her racquets I assume back from the stringers. And enjoying a little carbohydrate or sugar boost while waiting for the mens singles match to conclude.

Around half past 7, they both left the lounge in rather a hurry.. hmmm I thought..  Sure enough, half an hour later the scoreboard on the outside of centre court lit up with the names Bartoli and Lisicki. I ran out of court 2 and up Henman Hill, dodging the hoards like a fugitive loose on a public highway, or a chase in a James Bond movie, just to see if the match was being shown on the big screen. Nope. Big screen was only showing the usual plucky-Brit cannon fodder.

Glancing to my left I noticed a sign on a portacabin which said, Resale Tickets here.. et voila.. I purchased one for centre court, which was issued for somewhere up in the back rows. I ran back down to centre court. Luckily because the court was rather sparsely filled for what was after all a match reassigned from another court, the steward directed me to sit at the front. There I was, in the corner of centre court, diagonally opposite the coaches box where her father sat, and metres from where Marion stood to serve. Cruising towards a four love lead. At one in ambition, Intuiting the reverie, the first step to Venus. 

And so under fading light Marion shone brightly on centre court. Defeating Sabine Lisicki 6-2 6-4.

The last match Marion played in centre was last year’s final - If the crowd was a little more sparse last night, the sense of occasion itself wasn’t lost on her. At home amidst SW19's verdant charms. Efficiently dispatching her opponent out of the tournament in less than 90 minutes.

From the outset Marion had to stamp her authority and status on the match, and that’s just what she did as she raced into a four games to love lead. Towards the end of the set Lisicki just about managed to register her presence on court, but whatever she did, (and she did hard, and rally well) Marion did better. A lot of the time Marion just had to step inside the baseline a little, and wait for the errors, double faults, and second serves to come off the head of Lisicki’s racquet.

The German, with her back turned to the replay screen, reduced to hoping against hope on line challenges that merely postponed an inevitable fate. The Bartoli serve was on message, and the returns not far off the accuracy she achieved at Wimbledon last year.

Whenever just a touch of magic was required, such as an angled winner at the net late in the first set(reminiscent of a similar beauty against Kleybanova at Eastbourne) or finishing off a rally with an audacious lob that stunned the crowd by dropping inside the baseline, Marion was signalling through her play that every year she visits Wimbledon from now on wont be just to make up the numbers, but to win the trophy.. Irrespect of how many times she is overlooked as a title contender by experts.

Marion’s commitment and aggression was expressed with a loud’n’gutsy “cummon” during a critical moment of the 2^nd set. Maybe she was unconsciously picking up on me saying it repeatedly. Probably not, her cummon was oh so much more wonderfully fierce than mine.

With breaks early in the second set for both players, Lisicki threatened to prolong the match just a little. But Marion simply Samprased her way through game after game, grinding down the resistance of her opponent, earning copious break points, and converting a sufficient number of them to seal the match.

In acknowledgement of their support, Marion took the unusual step of walking up stairs several rows behind the umpire’s chair, to hand a match towel to a group of flag-carrying French fans who had been vocal in their good support for Marion throughout the match.

As I exited centre court I heard Marion being interviewed on Wimbledon Radio, replete with optimism that “maybe this year I can go one better than the finalist.” Asked about Mr. James Bond aka Pierce Brosnan, she said it would be nice if he attended Wimbledon again, adding some inspiration to her aspiration, just as he did last year. Well done Marion.

Tatiana Perebiynis in the next round on Wednesday.  So I’ll be hopping on the tube down to Southields again tomorrow. Couple of other things, the stewarding at Wimbledon is 5 star – friendly, courteous, helpful. Reminiscent of an England not much in evidence anymore. Secondly, The cameraphone was set to Basic quality to conserve the remaining battery power, so the pics and vids are poor. I will get a proper digicam at some point. But the poor quality pics do at least show my vantage point. I’ll post other pics later. Lastly, I just want say hi to the girl from wtaworld whom I had a nice chat with between games during the Kuznetsova match. :wave: