==============
CHALLENGE BELL (Québec City, Canada; indoor hard; WTA Tier III)
============== http://www.challengebell.com/

Having opened 2006 with her first-ever WTA singles-title at
Auckland, how fitting that Maid Marion should have book-ended her
season with her third such title!

MARION BARTOLI [2]:
1r + Galina Voskoboeva, 6-1 6-4
2r + Laura Granville, 6-4 6-3
qf + SHENAY PERRY [6], 6-1 6-0
sf + Lilia Osterloh [Q], 3-6 6-3 6-1
f + OLGA POUTCHKOVA [8], 6-0 6-0

------
Photos
------

On-court (Marion and recent opponents; Olga Poutchkova in tears):
http://news.search.yahoo.com/search/news/?c=news_photos&p=bartoli
http://www.challengebell.com/photos/

Off-court:
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/2/photogallery/?Event=quebeccity

-------------
Quarter-final (Friday 3rd November)
-------------

+ MARION BARTOLI [2] d. SHENAY PERRY [6], 6-1 6-0

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
The Frenchwoman, who hits with two hands on both sides, was
relentless from the baseline, improving to 4-0 lifetime against the
American.

Marion: "I played really, really well today. Shenay is improving; I
played her here last year, and I think she's going to be a very good
player soon."

This is Bartoli's third time playing in Québec City and her second
semi-final run; last year in the final four, she was forced to
retire at the start of the second set against eventual runner-up
Sofia Arvidsson, due to dizziness. She hopes it'll be a different
turn of events this time.

Marion: "The only thing I hope is that I'll finish the match. It was
not really a good feeling last year, pulling out of the semi-finals.
So I hope I'll feel good tomorrow, play some good tennis and finish
the match."
<<<

----------
Semi-final (Saturday 4th November)
----------

+ MARION BARTOLI [2] d. Lilia Osterloh [Q], 3-6 6-3 6-1

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
Marion Bartoli, seeded No.2 this week and already a winner this
season at Auckland and Tokyo [Japan Open], fought back from a one-
set deficit and a right forearm injury that nearly forced her
retirement in the second set, to dispatch inspired American
qualifier Lilia Osterloh, 3-6 6-3 6-1.

Marion: "This match was very, very hard. I had to be mentally
strong, because I was injured and down a set. I didn't know if I'd
be able to complete the match or not. Finally, I started thinking
that it was still possible to win, and I did it, so I was happy."

Osterloh: "I just ran out of gas. It was my seventh match in eight
days, but I gave it everything I had. After the first set, I had
nothing left; I still fought until the end, though. I felt maybe if
I was a little fresher, I could have closed it out in straight sets,
but she's a great player, and she was fighting as well."
<<<

-----
Final (Sunday 5th November)
-----

+ MARION BARTOLI [2] d. OLGA POUTCHKOVA [8], 6-0 6-0

This was the first whitewash in a WTA singles-final since Auckland
1993, when Elna Reinach beat Caroline Kuhlman 6-0 6-0.

While it's only right that Marion should have won this final, I
can't help feeling sorry for Poutchkova. I find her mildly
attractive, so the dreaded double bagel is not something I would
have wished on her.

Poutchkova is clearly not a player for the big occasion. Her only
previous WTA singles-final was Kolkata 2006, where she lost 6-0 6-4
to Martina Hingis. She also has a terrible record against Marion,
who beat her 6-4 6-0 at the US Open 2006, 6-2 6-4 at Bali 2006, and
thus leads their head-to-head 3-0.

Marion has a win/loss record of 20-6 since the start of the US Open,
Poutchkova 15-6 (excluding US Open qualifying).


BBC Sport:
>>>
The number two seed took just 41 minutes to complete the win, after
which she comforted her rival and congratulated her on a good week.

Bartoli only decided to play on the morning of the final after
checking out an arm injury in practice.

Bartoli, 22, also won titles this year at Auckland in January, and
at Tokyo last month. She had hurt her right forearm while winning
her semi-final against American qualifier Lilia Osterloh 3-6 6-3 6-1
on Saturday.
<<<

www.wtatour.com:
>>>
She very nearly stopped playing her semi-final match with an injured
forearm, but still managed to fight her way into the Bell Challenge
final; and when she got there, she unleashed the most devastating
championship performance on the WTA Tour in over 13 years. Marion
Bartoli was in control from start to finish Sunday in Québec,
shutting Olga Poutchkova out, 6-0 6-0, for the third title of her
career breakthrough season.

Bartoli, seeded No.2 at the Tier III event, needed only 41 minutes
to complete the first double-bagel singles final since Auckland in
early 1993; it was also the sixth such win of her career, although
only one of those had come in a Tour main draw. After calling for a
medical timeout during her semi-final against Lilia Osterloh with a
right forearm injury, a conclusion like this one, against an in-form
opponent like Poutchkova, came totally unexpected.

Bartoli closes her breakthrough year on an amazing high. The Bell
Challenge is her third Sony Ericsson WTA Tour singles title, adding
to her previous wins at Auckland in the first week of the year and
Tokyo [Japan Open] just last month. She is also one of the newest
additions to the world's Top 20, cracking that class last month as
well. She'll return to her career-high of No.18 on Monday.

Despite the lopsided loss, Poutchkova ends her breakthrough fall
season with a second Tier III final appearance, and a 15-6 match
record since the US Open. A non-Top 100 player in New York, she is
projected to crack the Top 40 when the new rankings come out, and
has little to defend until the same period next year.
<<<

Marion quotes
-------------

{before the match}

"It will be really interesting. Maybe Olga will be a bit more
nervous than me because I've played more finals. But hopefully my
arm will be okay. If I'm good physically, I'll be able to try my
best to win this title."


{after the match}

"Three titles, it is great. I could not have hoped for better.

"I didn't know if I was going to be able to play today with the pain
in my arm. I went to strike balls this morning, and I felt the pain
wasn't as bad as yesterday.

"I didn't have expectations coming into this match, so maybe that
helped. Also, maybe she was tired from yesterday. She's a little
younger and less experienced, too. Whenever she'd start taking
control of the points I'd hit it just as hard back, and I think that
discouraged her a little bit.

"I like playing finals; the only one I've lost was Bali against
Svetlana Kuznetsova, who's No.4 in the world. It's been a
magnificent season. At the beginning of the year, I wasn't even
thinking about winning a title - let alone three! It's incredible.
There are players who haven't even won one yet.

"I'm looking forward to defending my titles next year; I'd also
really like to reach the fourth round or quarter-finals of a Grand
Slam - that's a goal now."


Poutchkova quotes
-----------------

{before the match}

"I played against Bartoli twice, and I lost twice. We'll see what
happens tomorrow. I'm just excited getting to the finals. I'll try
to just play my own game tomorrow."


{after the match}

"I was not nervous. I don't know what happened - it was over so
quickly. I think I was afraid to win.

"She played very strong, came up with good angles, and just didn't
give me any chances. I think it was also tough mentally; I'd played
her twice already and lost. She's the toughest player for me. She's
two-handed and it's hard to figure out where she'll hit. I'm
surprised she hasn't won a Grand Slam yet! Maybe we'll meet up in a
Grand Slam final someday - but I hope not to lose 6-0 6-0 again!

"Maybe third time [in a final] will be lucky. It happens sometimes
where you reach the finals: you know it's your last match, and it
happens. But it was a wonderful week. I got great support from the
Québec fans. Today was just another day; you just have to forget
about it and move on. There are a lot of tournaments out there."

Poutchkova joked with the press afterwards, suggesting a reason for
her defeat other than her opponent's sharp play.

"I had dinner at the hotel restaurant last night, and when I got
back there was a present from the tournament, or the hotel - I'm not
sure. It was a chocolate tennis racquet: a lot of chocolate. I had
fun with that. It probably slowed me down. I eat everything. My dad
looked at me and was like, 'What's going on?'"

--
Dr. Andrew Broad
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/
http://geocities.com/andrewbroad/tennis/seles/selesians.html

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/selesians/