Marion Bartoli Leads Impressive Field In Bali
By James Waterson
(November 1, 2011) After about 305 days of non-stop competitive tennis, the WTA Tour winds down in Bali, Indonesia, for the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions.
This incarnation of the tournament, which started in 2009, is for the eight players who won a WTA Premier-level title but didn’t qualify for the WTA Championships.
There’s much at stake, as the winner receives $210,000 and 375 ranking points, which could affect their seeding for next year’s Australian.
Read on to see Tennis Now’s prediction for who will take the final title of the year home.
(1) Marion Bartoli (FRA) – Unlike her competitors, Bartoli narrowly missed the opportunity to compete in the WTA Championships. She was in the running until the week before the tournament, and three wins away from qualifying, but an illness forced her to retire.
She showed she belonged in the game’s elite when she defeated Championships finalist Victoria Azarenka in three sets in the final group stage match. The win felt like an anticlimax, as Bartoli fared far better than French Open champion Li Na did in the tournament.
If the desire Bartoli showed in Istanbul is any indication, she will go into Bali determined to win the title. Yet even if she does win, she won’t be able to take the eighth spot in the rankings from Agnieszka Radwanska, as she’ll be only 165 points behind.
Her results this year indicate she’ll be one of the top contenders in Bali. After falling in the second round of the Australian Open, Bartoli won two titles (Eastbourne and Osaka), and reached the semifinals of the French Open, in Indian Wells, and the quarterfinals at Wimbledon. All of that contributes to a 58-24 record for the year.
Bartoli is the most successful player heading into the tournament, and she has the type of game that can punish her opponents. Yet she has a losing record against four of her competitors: Lisicki, Ivanovic, Vinci and Daniela Hantuchova.
She has a strong record against her first-round opponent, Anabel Media Garrigues, but she would player either Lisicki (1-3) or Hantuchova (1-5) in the semifinals.
2011 Win Loss Record: 58-24
Prediction: Semifinals
(2) Peng Shuai (CHN) – The 25-year-old Peng has had a remarkable year. In January, she was ranked No. 72, and since then she has reached at least the quarterfinals of 10 WTA tournaments to climb to No. 16.
She’s also made the fourth round at the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. Although she’s been a consistent performer all season, she has won only two matches since the final Grand Slam tournament of the year.
Peng will play Nadia Petrova, who she has a 3-2 record against, in the final. If she wins, she would face either Ivanovic or Vinci, both players she has a losing record against.
Like Bartoli, Peng hits with a two-handed forehand and backhand. But she doesn’t hit with the depth the Frenchwoman has, which means she can be overpowered.
She may beat Petrova, but either Ivanovic or Vinci will best her in the semifinals.
2011 Win Loss Record: 53-20
Prediction: Semifinals
(3) Sabine Lisicki (GER) – The 22-year-old German first appeared on the tennis radar in 2009, when she beat two top 10 players (Svetlana Kuznetsova and Caroline Wozniacki) to reach the quarterfinal at Wimbledon.
The result elevated her to the top 30, but a series of injuries in 2010 saw her ranking drop to No. 217. In the first half of 2011, she had to qualify for the Australian Open and the French Open. Then, at the pre-Wimbledon warm-up tournament in Birmingham, she won the title without losing a set.
She then beat French Open champion Li Na and Bartoli to reach the Wimbledon semifinal, and she picked up her second title in Dallas in August.
The German is blessed with a big game. She has one of the hardest serves on the WTA Tour, and she hits her groundstrokes with ample depth and power. She also moves well, and she defends adequately as well.
If the courts in Bali play quickly, then she has a strong chance against anyone in the field. She is 1-1 against Hantuchova, her first-round opponent, and 3-1 against Bartoli, who she would meet in the semifinals.
She is also 2-0 against Peng and 1-0 against Petrova, and she’s never faced Medina Garrigues, Ivanovic or Vinci.
2011 Win Loss Record: 47-17
Prediction: Champion
(4) Roberta Vinci (ITA) – Vinci, the World No. 22, has won three WTA Tour International titles this year (in Barcelona, ‘s-Hertogenbosch and Budapest). Despite the number of titles, she’s beaten players ranked inside of the top 30 only seven times this year, three of which happened in Toronto.
The Italian is another one of the players in Bali who is having the best season of her career.
Yet she never advanced beyond the third round of a Grand Slam tournament, and she’s facing Ivanovic, a player she has a poor record against, in the first round.
She’s won only two of six matches against the Serbian former World No. 1, although both of her wins came this year. It’s a tossup, but Ivanovic has played well in Bali in the past (despite recent form), so it will be tough for Vinci to move beyond her first match.
2011 Win Loss Record: 37-25
Prediction: First Round
Daniela Hantuchova (SLO) – Hantuchova has had one of her best seasons, as she won the title in Pattaya City, Thailand, and reached the final in Birmingham, where she lost to Lisicki.
Unlike most of the field in Bali, the Slovakian has four wins against top 10 opponents this year, and she reached the fourth round of the French Open and the semifinals in Eastbourne.
The Slovakian has played her best tennis on clay and grass, while she’s struggled to maintain consistency on hard courts.
Although she has a very technically sound game, Hantuchova can be overpowered (as shown by her lopsided records against the Williams sisters and Petra Kvitova).
If Lisicki’s 6-3, 6-2 win against Hantuchova in Birmingham was any indication, the German falls into that category as well. Yet if the Slovak can get past Lisicki, she may face Bartoli (who she has a 5-1 record against) in the semifinals.
That may be too much to ask. Look for Hantuchova to fall in the first round.
2011 Win Loss Record: 41-28
Prediction: First Round
Ana Ivanovic (SRB) – Bali’s defending champion, Ivanovic has suffered from another year of inconsistency. Currently ranked No. 26, the Serb had a difficult first half of the year. She lost in the first round of the Australian Open and French Open, as well as in Madrid.
She did do well in Miami, Indian Wells and on the grass courts of Birmingham, only to lose to in the third round of Wimbledon.
Her game came alive in the second half of the year, as she won 15 of her next 22 matches. That includes reaching the semifinals in Carlsbad, the quarterfinals in Beijing and the fourth round at the US Open.
When she’s on top of her game, Ivanovic has a devastating forehand and a solid serve. But her inconsistency makes her a bit of an unknown quantity, as she could lose to Vinci in the first round or she could win the title.
It all depends on how the other match, between Peng and Petrova, goes. Ivanovic has won all three of her matches against Peng, while she’s won six of 11 against Petrova.
Peng seems favored to advance from that match, which would give Ivanovic a real shot at reaching the final.
2011 Win Loss Record: 29-20
Prediction: Finals
Nadia Petrova (RUS) – A former World No. 3, Petrova enters the Tournament of Champions with one title (Washington D.C.). The Russian reached the fourth round of Wimbledon and the French Open, and she lost to eventual champion Samantha Stosur in three close sets at the US Open.
Petrova is a seasoned veteran who has the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam nine times. Yet she’ll play Peng, who owns a 3-2 record against her, in the first round. Peng has not only been more consistent this year, she’s won their last two matches.
Yet this one is still a tossup, as their last two matches went to three sets. If Petrova wins, she would still face either Ivanovic (5-6) or Vinci (2-1) in the semifinals.
Petrova certainly has her work cut out for her, and it may be too much to handle for the 31st-ranked Russian.
2011 Win Loss Record: 24-20
Prediction: First Round
Anabel Medina Garrigues (ESP) – Speaking of having her work cut out for her, Medina Garrigues faces Bartoli, who she’s won only two of eight matches against, in the first round.
The Spaniard has excelled on clay this season (she won on the dirt in Estoril and Palermo) and both of her wins against Bartoli have come on the surface.
Unfortunately, the Tournament of Champions is played on an indoor hard court.
If Medina Garrigues manages to beat Bartoli, she’ll have to contend with Lisicki (who plays well on faster surfaces) and Hantuchova (who has beaten her three times in four matches).
Look for Bartoli to eliminate the Spaniard quickly in the first round.
2011 Win Loss Record: 38-22
Prediction: First Round
Play starts on Thursday.
Photo Credits: Natasha Peterson/Corleve; Tony Chang; Getty Images