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| 12 Dec 2001 | |
| Bartoli Dominates Sharapova at BURGER KING Orange Bowl |
If Marion Bartoli can defeat Ashley Harkleroad again, she may be able to win a singles title at the BURGER KING Orange Bowl… again.
Seeded fourth Bartoli, the reigning US Open girls’ singles champion, dominated Russian upstart Maria Sharapova, 6-2, 6-1, to advance to the Girls' 18s quarterfinals. She will face No. 5 Ashley Harkleroad on Friday in a rematch of the US Open semifinals.
"Ashley is a very good player," said Bartoli. "Last time I won by an easy score, but I expect a tough match. It’s good because I know how to play her. All the girls in the draw are young, though, and we improve a lot quickly."
Bartoli builds her game around her aggressive return of service. She is a fixture on service line when receiving, which can frighten her opponents into numerous service errors and tentative play.
"I didn’t serve well against her (Bartoli) the first time we played," admits Harkleroad. "In fact, I wasn’t serving well the entire US Open, but I’ve been hitting my serves well this week and I expect to give her a better match."
Bartoli, the Orange Bowl Girls’ 16s champion last year, is trying to become just the sixth player to win the Girls’ 18s title here after capturing the 16s since the tournament added the younger age group in 1962.
Players who have won the Orange Bowl
Girls’ 16s and 18s singles titles (since 1962)
Player, Country
OB 16s
OB 18s
Elena Dementieva, Russia
1996
1998
Ana Alcazar, Spain
1995
1996
Mary Joe Fernandez, United States
1984
1985
Chris Evert, United States
1968
1969, 1970
Peaches Barkowitz, United States
1962
1963-1966
If Bartoli can get through Harkleroad, a rematch of the US Open singles final may be at hand if No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova can get past No. 6 seed and reigning Australian Open girls’ champion Jelena Jankovic in their quarterfinal match, also scheduled for Friday.
Kuznetsova overpowered Bethanie Mattek, 6-4, 6-3, in the only third round Girls’ 18s singles match between two seeded players. Kuznetsova, who took over the World No. 1 singles ranking this week after leading Russia to the ITF Connolly Continental Cup title, will try to relinquish her bridesmaid roll following loses in the girls’ singles finals at Wimbledon and the US Open this summer.
In Thursday’s quarterfinal action, No. 1 seed Marie-Gaiane Mikaelian will face No. 8 Vera Zonnereva and unseeded Anna Bastrikova will play No. 7 Virag Nemeth. Bastrikova upset No. 3 seed Eva Birnerova in the third round, virtually ending the Czech teenager’s chances of ending the year ranked No. 1.
The top half of the Boys’ 18s will play through the quarterfinals Thursday as well. No. 5 seed Robin Soderling will meet No. 15 Phillip Petzschner for the third time on the ITF World Junior Ranking Circuit. Both players own a three-set victory in the series, with Soderling winning their last encounter at the Australian Open.
No. 3 Brian Dabul, the highest remaining seed in the Boys’ 18s, will meet No. 11 Santiago Gonzalez. The two players were on the opposite side of the net last week during the decisive doubles match of the Argentine/Mexico semifinal tie at the ITF Sunshine Cup, won by Dabul and his partner, Luicano Vitullo. Gonzalez’ partner in that match, Bruno Echagaray is also still alive in the bottom half of the draw.
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