Former World No. 1 Serena Williams defeated Marion Bartoli for her first title since her comeback after a long year of injuries and illnesses. The American eased past the Frenchwoman after coming from behind in the first set, and earning the Bank of the West Classic title on Sunday with a score of 7-5 6-1.
“You can see the growth in her game, and also she’s such a nice person. Thank you for being sweet. That’s really nice.”, Serena said about Marion at the trophy presentation.
Going into the tournament, Williams was No. 169 in the world, but after beating top players such as Sharapova and Bartoli, her ranking has lifted to No. 79 in the world.
“I hated those triple digits. Now I’ve got to get to single digits.”, Serena said, chuckling, about her ranking.
ongratulations, Serena!
And welcome back to the winner’s circle!
Marina Erakovic has just had the best win of her young career. Marina Erakovic defeated Victoria Azarenka 4-6 7-5 6-2.
This is Erakovic’s first win over anyone in the top 20. Its great to see a young Kiwi doing so well and Im looking forward to seeing if she can backup this result.
“Coming in I knew I had to be the aggressor and try to dictate the pace,” Erakovic said. “I knew the court and I felt like I was hitting the ball well.”
Anastasia Rodionova gets a very big tennis lesson after her 6-0 6-0 loss to Serena Williams at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. It is very rare that you see a 6-0 6-0 loss in professional tennis and its quite sad for Rodionova.
- 6 aces
- 100% first serve points won (17/17)
- 82% second serve return points won
- Faced no break points
- 83% service points won
- 71% total points won
- 6-0, 6-0
- 47 minutes
The only thing I didnt like about the win is that Serena looked very cocky and even being a smart-ass at times.
Currently ranked number five in the world, Maria Sharapova sat down at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic to talk about how her career has turned out, what difficulties she faced during her life, and what she thinks of the events that happen in between tournaments.
At age four, her father Yuri gave her a tennis racquet and she doesn’t remember a time when she wasn’t playing tennis. She has never wanted to leave the sport behind once she stepped into adulthood and she never hated the sport ever since she started playing.
“There is no reason to and although you have difficult moments, it’s a pretty good gig and we are fortunate to do what we do,” Sharapova said at Stanford’s Bank of the West Classic, where she is the second seed. “You have your moments of frustrations growing up when your friends can catch the 10 p.m. movie and you have to catch the 6-7 p.m. movie even though you want to go with them, but you can’t because you have to wake up and practice. But it’s worth it when you lift the trophies and receive the texts and emails and well wishes.”
“Even though I’m constantly thinking of wanting to win and improving, when I’m at home I’m really happy and settled into my life,” she said. “I don’t feel like I need to go to a red carpet event for people to see me and notice me and I don’t feel my career is in the hands of someone who can put me on the cover of a magazine. I think those are really big worries that [other] people have and it’s tough to live like that. I’m fortunate my career is driven from something I created with my own hands, whether I win or lose. That’s what keeps me sane.”
As the second seeded player at Stanford, Maria has an opportunity to meet Serena Williams in the quarters. But she should also watch out for defending champ and top seeded Victoria Azarenka who wants to give herself a title as her birthday gift this Sunday. The only way for Maria to stop her is beat her in the final, if they do meet.
Anastasia Rodionova is the player who will have to take on Serena Williams in the first round at the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford. Rodionova has struggled previously with Williams, so it will be interesting to see if she can get the upperhand in this clash.
Williams has been struggling for form lately and needs to get some important match wins under her belt before heading to the US Open in the coming months.
The WTA tour Bank of the West Classic is coming up next week and here is where you can watch all of Friday and the weekend action.
All of the top players from all over the world will be at the event and it will be very interesting to see who can take the title.
Stanford TV Coverage (Click on broadcaster links for coverage details)
