BARTOLI , WOZNIAK TO FACE IN BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC FINAL
STANFORD, Calif. (www.BankOfTheWestClassic.com) – One week ago, Aleksandra Wozniak was sweating out a three-set victory on the opening day of qualifying competition.
On Sunday afternoon, the Canadian qualifier will attempt to win her first Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title.
Playing her seventh match in eight days, Wozniak continued her improbable run with an upset of tournament top seed and No. 5-ranked Serena Williams on Saturday afternoon in the semifinals of the 2008 Bank of the West Classic in front of 2381 fans at Taube Family Tennis Stadium.
“I was trying not to think about being tired,” said Wozniak. “I was tired but I just wanted to focus on me, play aggressive and play my game. I knew I would be playing today against a big champion so I wanted to keep my cool today on the court…I just wanted to focus on my gameplan on the court and not think too much. I just wanted to play offensive tennis.”
Wozniak becomes the first qualifier to reach the singles final at the Bank of the West Classic since 1982- the first year that computer rankings were generated.
Wozniak dominated early in the match, which became official after Williams was forced to retire after injuring her left knee and trailing 3-1 in the second set. Wozniak had claimed the first set easily 6-2 and the entire match lasted only 46 minutes. Williams said she first began experiencing discomfort from the injury when she was practicing earlier in the morning.
An eight-time Grand Slam champion, Williams struggled from the start against Wozniak and first called for a trainer when she fell behind 5-2 in the opening set. That was enough to affect her game and build confidence for Wozniak, who entered the start of the tournament ranked No. 85 and with an overall record of 16-13 on the year.
Wozniak trailed 1-0 in both sets but induced Williams into 23 unforced errors and kept this year’s Wimbledon runner-up on the defensive for the entire match.
On the other side of the bracket, sixth-seeded Marion Bartoli cruised to a 6-3, 6-3 victory over tour veteran Ai Sugiyama in the night session. It was Bartoli’s first win over Sugiyama in six career meetings.
“I think I played really well; maybe even better than yesterday I thought at some points,” said Bartoli. “She gave me a hard time. She was hitting the ball really early, playing flat and moving so well. It’s always difficult to beat someone when you’ve lost five times before but I’ve been able to manage to get my serve up at the end of the match.”
Bartoli, who has won four consecutive matches for the first time this year, posted her third straight-set win of this week’s event. In addition to tonight’s victory over Sugiyama, Bartoli also looked very sharp in a 6-3, 6-4 upset of defending Bank of the West Classic champion Anna Chakvetadze in the quarterfinals.
After trailing Sugiyama 2-1 in the first set, Bartoli won four straight games en route to a 6-3 win. In the second set, Bartoli jumped out to a 3-1 lead and ended up winning the final two games.
Playing in the Bank of the West Classic for the sixth straight season, Bartoli had never advanced past the second round in five previous tries in this event. Tomorrow’s singles final is slated for 2 p.m.
Meanwhile in doubles, the world’s top-ranked duo of Cara Black and Liezel Huber outlasted Tatiana Poutchek and Anastasia Rodionova 4-6, 6-3, (10-7) to earn a spot in Sunday’s final.
Prior to this afternoon, Black and Huber had made quick work of their first two opponents by allowing only 14 games overall. On Saturday, they dropped the first set 6-4 after holding an early 3-1 lead.
But they held on for a 6-3 win in the second set and squeezed past their counterparts 10-7 in the tiebreaker despite racing out to a 7-1 lead.
Black and Huber will oppose Elena Vesnina and Vera Zvonareva in Sunday’s doubles final at 11:30 a.m. Vesnina and Zvonareva downed Alisa Kleybanova and Monica Niculescu 2-6, 6-3, (10-3) on Saturday night.
Vesnina and Zvonareva were pushed to a super-tiebreaker for the second straight night.
The Bank of the West Classic, a Sony Ericsson WTA Tour event, will be played July 14-20 at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium at Stanford University and features a 28-player singles draw as well as a 16-team doubles draw. The event is owned and operated by IMG and serves as the opening women’s event of the Olympus US Open Series.
ABOUT THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC: The Bank of the West Classic is the longest-running women-only professional tennis tournament in the world and is the first stop of the US Open Series. A Sony Ericsson WTA Tour Tier II event, the Bank of the West Classic features a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw with total prize money of $600,000. Held on Stanford University’s campus at the Taube Family Tennis Stadium since 1997, former champions include: Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Andrea Jaeger, Monica Seles, Martina Hingis, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. The Bank of the West Classic is owned and operated by IMG.
ABOUT BANK OF THE WEST: Founded in 1874 and headquartered in San Francisco, $62 billion-asset Bank of the West is the second-largest commercial bank based in California. Bank of the West offers a full range of business, trust, international and personal banking services. The bank currently operates more than 700 commercial and retail banking locations in 19 Western and Midwestern states. In 2008, Bank of the West ranked “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Retail Banks in the West” by J.D. Power and Associates. Bank of the West's holding company, BancWest Corporation, is owned by BNP Paribas, a leading global financial services institution ranked by Standard & Poor's as one of the world's four strongest banks. More information is available at www.bankofthewest.com.
Quotes (7/19/08)
Aleksandra Wozniak
Overall thoughts on the match…
“I think in the middle of the first set she (Serena) was favoring her leg and I didn’t know if it was her ankle bothering her or what. But it’s my first final in awhile and my biggest final since the first one in Morocco, and that was a smaller event on clay. I’m really happy with the way I played this week and it’s not easy to come out of the qualifying because that’s a lot of matches in one week.”
On whether or not she felt tired…
“I was trying not to think about that. I was tired but I just wanted to focus on me, play aggressive and play my game. I knew I would be playing today against a big champion so I wanted to keep my cool today on the court…I just wanted to focus on my gameplan on the court and not think too much. I just wanted to play offensive tennis.”
On how Serena’s injury affected her play…
“I just tried to stay focused on what I was doing well and hopefully she would get up and continue to play. She is a champion so she obviously doesn’t want to give up from the first medical timeout…I was so focused on playing aggressive and moving her around. She was still moving pretty good but I think she was just hurting so much she had to pull out.”
On advancing out of the qualifying bracket…
“I just said to myself to ‘take it all one match at a time.’ You never know what’s going to happen in qualifying because you have to win three matches just to get into the big draw. So I just wanted to take it one match at a time.”
Serena Williams
On when she first experienced the knee injury…
“It was hurting in this morning’s practice. I didn’t really practice too long because it started hurting…After I got off, it was really swollen. I thought that I have to play really fast."
On if the switch to hardcourt from grass hampered her game…
“I think maybe. It’s a totally different surface and grass is much softer. This is obviously much harder so that could be a factor.”
On being relatively healthy for much of the year…
“That’s why I said it’s really positive because I have been playing a lot of tennis all year and having some real positive results. I just think it’s a factor of playing a lot of tennis. Maybe I just need to take a day off.”
On coming back to the court after the medical timeout…
“It actually felt better once I got it wrapped. But I think Wozniak kept moving me and I was hoping she wouldn’t. I guess she knew better. That didn’t help at all.”
Overall thoughts on the tournament…
“I expected to win this tournament and have a strong start. My plan was to win here and I don’t think I would have done it otherwise.”
Marion Bartoli
Overall thoughts on the match…
“I think I played really well; maybe even better than yesterday I thought at some points. She gave me a hard time. She was hitting the ball really early, playing flat and moving so well. It’s always difficult to beat someone when you’ve lost five times before but I’ve been able to manage to get my serve up at the end of the match.”
On snapping a five-game losing streak to Sugiyama…
“The last time if I remember well- we played each other two, three years ago. I was just not on the same level. I was not moving as fast as I’m moving right now and was making a lot more unforced errors. I was not hitting the ball as well as I am right now. So everything in my game has improved and I think that has been a key for me to be able to play a better game.”
On facing Wozniak for the first time in Sunday’s final…
“I will try first to focus on my game. Keep the same routine as I’ve done to get ready to play. Try to focus into my game first. Play the first few games and then if I need to make a change against her, I will make it on the court. Obviously, I know pretty much nothing about her game so I will try to be as aggressive as today. I think if I play like today, then it will be a great match.”