Pat Rafter Arena was supposed to be Queensland’s “court of dreams” but it’s taken just five days to turn into a French fortress.
Marion Bartoli became the latest to continue the French resistance at the Brisbane International on Thursday night by booking a semifinal berth with a 6-3 6-3 thumping of Italian Tathiana Garbin.
World No.17 Bartoli took 79 minutes to win the quarterfinal and set up an all-French semifinal on Friday against veteran Amelie Mauresmo, who showed she remained a force to be reckoned with following her 6-3 6-2 upset of top seed Ana Ivanovic.
The pair’s quarterfinal efforts ensured there would be at least one Frenchwoman in the Saturday night final of the inaugural tournament while three French players still remain in the men’s draw.
Australian Open finalist Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is the new favourite for the event, but must still get past classy countryman Richard Gasquet in the last quarterfinal on Friday night.
Although the ultra-consistent Bartoli started favourite with 31-year-old Garbin, ranked 54th in the world and coming towards the end of her career, she had to overcome a 1-2 career deficit against the Italian.
But Bartoli quickly lived up to her third seeding at the tournament by breaking the Garbin serve twice in the seventh and ninth games to take the opening set in 40 minutes.
She reeled off the last four games of the set after calling for some on-court coaching from father Walter, who is also a doctor.
Not to be outdone, Garbin called for her coach to give advice at the end of the set and duly broke the quirky but reliable Bartoli serve.
But the 2007 Wimbledon finalist, who was denied a maiden Grand Slam title by Venus Williams, broke back and broke again before taking the match when Garbin over-hit an easy volley.
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