• WTA

Bartoli fights through pain to book Carlsbad final

ESPN staff
July 21, 2012
Marion Bartoli had an ankle problem © Getty Images
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Top seed Marion Bartoli recovered from a horror start to reach the final of the Mercury Insurance Open on Saturday, beating Chan Yung-Jan in three sets.

Bartoli suffered an incredibly slow start in Carlsbad, committing 20 unforced errors and seven double-faults in the first set. However, she eventually found her groove for a 1-6 6-3 6-3 victory.

"My ankle was really bothering me at the beginning, and the doctor gave me some anti-inflammatories before the match started," Bartoli said. "It took 45 minutes before the anti-inflammatories started to kick in, and I was feeling a lot better in the second and the third set."

She will now face second seed Dominika Cibulkova in the final, after Cibulkova beat Nadia Petrova 7-6(8) 6-1 in the other semi-final.

At the Swedish Open, Mathilde Johansson and Polona Hercog will compete for the trophy after they saw off Johanna Larsson and Mona Barthel respectively. Johansson triumphed 6-4 6-4 despite serving up nine double-faults against Larsson, while Hercog was utterly dominant against Barthel, winning 6-1 6-3 in exactly an hour.

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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