Trend Setters or Heart Breakers?

Medibank International
2008-01-08
By Ben Rassieur

A pattern emerged on the outer courts today; win the first set and forget about the ret of the match. Sybille Bammer, Marion Bartoli, and Sofia Arvidsson all forgot that you have to win two sets to win a match.

The trend started in the Sybille Bammer and Katarina Srebotnik match. The first set was pretty brutal. Neither player was serving particularly well. And there were 7 break opportunities between them, Srebotnik facing six of them. Bammer was able to convert two break chances early on, establishing a 4-2 lead. She was ble to hold on to the lead and take the first set. The second and third sets were all Srebotnik as she saw 10 break opportunities and converted four of them. In the second Srebotniks return game was too good for Bammer, as she attacked Bammers second serve every time she faced it. But in the third the problem was Bammer. He serve completely fell apart. Not a good sign going into the first Grand Slam of the season. Srebotnik earned herself a match against Ana Ivanovic, who struggled thru a three set match against Virginie Razzano.

Another trendy girl was Marion Bartoli. The young Frenchwoman came to fame at Wimbledon where she downed world number one Justine Henin. She was able to carry that success thru the rest of the year, making an appearance as a substitute in the Sony Ericsson Championships when Serena Williams withdrew with an injury. Known for her hard hitting ways she plowed thru the first set against Francesca Schiavone today. But in the second things flipped. The pesky Italian didnt serve well, but her return game got 3 breaks off the Bartoli serve. In the third Schiavone found her serve and combined with her returning she was too much for the rusty Bartoli. Schiavone took the match 2-6, 6-3, 6-2. She will now face another bruiser Svetlana Kuznetsova.

Are final it girl of the day was Sofia Arvidsson. The Swede looked to be getting back to the top form that got her into the Top 30 in 2006. But Kaia Kanepi put a damper on those hopes. Arvidsson rolled thru the first set, racking up four breaks and only losing one. Contributing to the first set rut was Kanepis 3 double faults in the final game. Kanepi didnt serve another double fault the rest of the match. But she did serve up five aces, including two in her final service game to secure the victory. Arvidsson put up a valiant effort in the loss, but Kanepis heavy topspin penetrating strokes forced her to leave many balls short. Kanepi now has the task of taking it to world number one Justine Henin hwo has yet to play a match this season.