==========================
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S OPEN (Eastbourne, England; grass; WTA Tier II)
========================== http://eastbourne.lta.org.uk/
Contents
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1. Semi-final TV-report: Bartoli v Radwanska
2. Articles

Master-reports for Eastbourne 2008:
http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=356695

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1. Semi-final TV-report: Bartoli v Radwanska (Friday 20th June)
--------------------------------------------

- MARION BARTOLI [2,DF,S] lt. AGNIESZKA RADWANSKA [4], 5-7 3-6

The match started at 15:04 BST, and I saw it on BBCi up to the rain-
delay at 3-3* (Deuce #3 after Marion squandered four break-points) in
the first set.


First set
---------
BARTOLI _* * * 3
RADWANS * * *_ 3

Radwanska serving 0-0: Marion forehand long. 15/0. Marion crosscourt
backhand return-winner. 15/15. Service-winner out wide. 30/15.
Crosscourt backhand return just wide. 40/15. Radwanska sprayed a wild
crosscourt backhand wide on the third stroke. 40/30. Radwanska off-
backhand winner into the corner.

No invincible start for Marion today.

Marion serving 0-1: Service-winner. 15/0. Backhand return long. 30/0.
Radwanska netted a forehand. 40/0. Marion on the third stroke netted
a crosscourt backhand. 40/15. Radwanska forehand return-winner down
the line. 40/30. Serve + error-forcing crosscourt forehand.

Marion says she does well on grass because she hits the ball flatter
and earlier than most of her opponents, and low over the net.

Radwanska serving 1-1: Radwanska's deep approach forced Marion to net
a backhand. 15/0. Marion's deep return down the middle forced
Radwanska to net a backhand. 15/15. Marion netted a forehand. 30/15.
Radwanska forehand netcord-winner. 40/15. Marion crosscourt forehand
wide off a deep ball from Radwanska.

Marion serving 1-2: Service-winner. 15/0. Double fault (second serve
just long). 15/15. Marion came to the net and after a couple of
volleys, hit an off-forehand volley-winner. 30/15. Double fault #2
(second serve just long). 30/30. Marion backhand winner down the
line, back behind Radwanska. 40/30. In a crowd-pleasing rally, Marion
ran down a dropshot and hit a short-angled crosscourt backhand
winner - amazing angles from both.

Radwanska serving 2-2: Marion ran down a dropshot but hit a
crosscourt backhand wide. 15/0. Marion dumped a forehand into the net
off a short ball. 30/0. Ace #1: down the middle. 40/0. An intriguing
rally ended with Radwanska hitting a short-angled crosscourt forehand
winner onto the sideline, but Marion did really well to retrieve a
good serve down the middle with a lob-return onto the baseline, and
also hit a pinpoint backhand down the line onto the sideline in that
rally.

Marion serving 2-3: Marion crosscourt forehand volley-winner.
Virginia Wade: "Really logical tennis - real construction." 15/0.
Marion high forehand drive-volley winner crosscourt. 30/0. Serve +
forehand volley-winner down the line. 40/0. Radwanska off-forehand
just wide.

Radwanska serving 3-3: Marion cleaned the sideline with a short-
angled crosscourt backhand winner. 0/15. Radwanska crosscourt
backhand wide. 0/30. Radwanska, stretched wide by a crosscourt
forehand return just inside the sideline, chopped a forehand into the
net. 0/40 (BP). Marion netted a crosscourt backhand return.
15/40 (BP #2). Marion down-the-line backhand wide. 30/40 (BP #3).
Marion netted a crosscourt backhand off a low ball from Radwanska.
40/40. Marion backhand just long. Ad Radwanska. She hit a forehand
long. David Mercer: "It's as if she thought, 'Okay, I'm fine now.'"
Deuce #2. Marion crosscourt backhand winner just inside the sideline.
Ad Marion (BP #4). Radwanska saved it with a backhand winner down the
line. Deuce #3. It started to rain again (the first semi-final had
suffered two rain-delays), the umpire checked the court at 15:28, and
the players sat down by the uncovered court. After a few minutes,
play was officially suspended and the court was covered.

BBCi switched to showing football-highlights, and continued to do so
when play resumed and the match was completed! :-||

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2. Articles
-----------

Petrova and Radwanska reach Eastbourne final (AP)
>>>
Nadia Petrova defeated Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-3 on Friday to reach the
final of the Eastbourne International Women's Open.

The eighth-seeded Russian will face fourth-seeded Agnieszka
Radwanska, who upset No.2 Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-3.

Radwanska benefitted from Bartoli's seven double faults, but had to
withstand some early pressure.

The Pole faced four break-points at 3-3 before rain forced the
players off court for 70 minutes. Bartoli then held two set-points at
5-4 before Radwanska earned the only break when Bartoli double-
faulted.

In the second set, Bartoli broke to go up 1-0, but Radwanska swept
the next four games. Although Bartoli claimed another break in the
sixth game, she dropped her serve with a seventh double fault to
leave Radwanska serving for victory.

Radwanska will be bidding for her third title of the year after
winning in Pattaya and Istanbul.
<<<

Radwanska to play Petrova in Eastbourne-final (Reuters)
By Clare Fallon (editing by Pritha Sarkar)
>>>
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska beat second seed Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-3
in a hard-fought match to join Nadia Petrova in the final of the
Eastbourne International tournament on Friday.

France's Bartoli was Wimbledon runner-up last year, but has been
struggling with tendinitis in her wrist in recent weeks, and had
problems with her first serve on Friday.

At the end of a first set interrupted for just over an hour by rain
on a chilly day at the English seaside, she double-faulted on
Radwanska's fourth set-point. Ever the fighter, Bartoli broke her
opponent at the start of the second set, but was broken back straight
away.

After another exchange of breaks, she again double-faulted on the
third break-point of the eighth game. Though Bartoli saved one match-
point in the following game with a crosscourt winner, Radwanska took
victory with a winning volley.

Radwanska, 19, said Bartoli's flat, low shots made her a difficult
opponent. "I was playing on my knees all the time, so it was very
hard," she told a news-conference.

Bartoli said she had failed to make the most of her chances, but was
happy with her game. "Even when you play well, sometimes you lose,"
she said.
<<<

Radwanska sets up Petrova Eastbourne title-clash (AFP)
>>>
Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska denied 2007 Wimbledon finalist Marion
Bartoli a second career-final on grass with a 7-5 6-3 victory at the
Eastbourne Championships on Friday.

Second-seeded Frenchwoman Bartoli, beaten in last summer's title-
match at the All-England club by Venus Williams, failed in her bid to
fine-tune for the season's third Grand Slam starting on Monday.

Radwanska, who won the Pattaya- and Istanbul-titles this year, will
aim to complete a 2008 hat-trick when she faces Russian eighth seed
Nadia Petrova, who defeated Samantha Stosur 6-3 6-3.

"She played tough at the Australian Open," Radwanska said of her
fourth-round win in January over the Russian after rallying from
6-2 3-0 love down to turn the tide for victory.

"I don't know how she's playing on this surface, but I'm sure it will
be a difficult final. I'm just glad to be in my first final on grass.

"I thought that I would play just one match here and then go to
Wimbledon. This is a great warm-up, and I want to keep doing well."

Bartoli was felled by seven double faults and five breaks of serve.
All but one of the 13 break-points she faced came in the second set.
<<<

Radwanska, Petrova Move Into Eastbourne-Final
http://www.sonyericssonwtatour.com/1/newsroom/stories/?ContentID=2360
>>>
Four players with a penchant for grass made the semi-finals of the
International Women's Open this week, and on Friday, two of them
moved into the final, with Agnieszka Radwanska and Nadia Petrova
squaring off on Saturday for the Tier II WTA Tour title.

Eighth seed Petrova was the first to advance to the title-match,
stopping the surprise-run of Samantha Stosur with a 6-3 6-3 victory.
Both sets began with the two players holding serve through 3-3, but
each time it was Petrova who broke away, reeling off three games in a
row at each critical juncture en route to the one-hour, 19-minute
victory: her third win in the pair's three career-meetings (she won
their first two by similar scorelines: 6-2 6-2 at the 2004 US Open
and 6-1 6-3 at 2006 Linz).

Fourth seed Radwanska earned a tougher 7-5 6-3 victory over No.2 seed
Marion Bartoli in the second semi-final of the day. Radwanska
snatched the first break of the match in the last game of the first
set, and raced out to a 4-1 lead in the second set; it looked as
though Bartoli was building something of a comeback as she closed the
gap to 4-3 and was two points away from tying it at 4-4, but the
Polish No.1 held on for a one-hour, 33-minute victory.
<<<

Petrova and Radwanska face off in Eastbourne-final
http://www.lta.org.uk/News/All-news-items/WC16-06-08/Petrova-and-
Radwanska-face-off-in-Eastbourne-final/
>>>
Tennis-fans were treated to a serve-volley spectacle on Day 5 of the
International Women's Open, both semi-finals decided with thrilling
displays of traditional grass-court tennis.

The net isn't Nadia Petrova's natural habitat, but the tall Russian
looked completely at home there in her semi-final against Australian
Sam Stosur, claiming their contest 6-3 6-3.

World No.22 and tournament No.8 seed, Petrova, will face Agnieszka
Radwanska in Saturday's final, the 19-year-old Polish woman defeating
No.2 seed Marion Bartoli in a net-charging extravaganza that lasted
one hour and 33 minutes, 7-5 6-3.

Radwanska coped brilliantly with Bartoli's net-rushing game-plan,
even taking a step back on serve as the Frenchwoman returned serve
closer and closer to the service-line.

"It's her game, whether she plays on grass or somewhere else, so I
concentrated on serving into her body - not to her racquet - and it
worked today," said Radwanska, who wasn't afraid to come to the net,
and demonstrated her own impressive volleying-skills when the
situation called for it.

"She's very powerful and very flexible and hits every ball low, so I
was hitting my volleys on my knees, but I expected that from her
game, so I just adapted to it," said the No.4 seed.

Despite heavy, rain-delayed conditions, there was no sign of the
wrist-injury that hampered Bartoli last week in Birmingham, and the
23-year-old was positive about next week's All-England Club campaign.

"Even if you play well, you can sometimes lose," she said after the
match. "I'm confident about my game, and I am sure I will do well at
Wimbledon if I keep playing like I have here this week."

Radwanska, who will be playing her first WTA Tour Tier II final on
Saturday, said she is ready to go one better in Eastbourne this week.

"I only expected to play one match here and then go to Wimbledon, so
I am very happy to have won three matches, and I feel ready to win
this title," said the world No.14, who holds a 1:0 win-loss record
over Petrova, having claimed victory in their fourth-round encounter
at the Australian Open in January: 1-6 7-5 6-0.
<<<

--
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