French top seed Marion Bartoli will face compatriot Aravane Rezai Sunday in the Bali Tournament of Champions' title clash. Top seed Bartoli survived a late fight by Japanese veteran Kimiko Date Krumm to win their semi-final 6-1, 6-3 on Saturday. Later, Rezai had a smoother ride against Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, beating her 6-2, 6-3 in 64 minutes.
Bartoli has won both encounters against Rezai, the latest just over a month ago in the Tokyo second round. At first, Bartoli, the only seed remaining from the 12 women who began the week in this tropical resort, looked like she would need less than an hour to wrap up her rout of 39-year-old Date Krumm, the oldest woman on the WTA. But, to complicate matters, Date Krumm suddenly showed some of the form that made her a star more than a decade ago.
The Japanese veteran, who retired a dozen years ago and then revived her career last season, denied Bartoli a match-winner in the sixth game of the second set, with the Frenchwoman leading a set and 5-1. Date Krumm proceeded to find new life with a break for 2-5 and a hold in the next game.
Bartoli, 2006 finalist when Bali was a regular WTA event, saved two break points and came through on a third match point a game later to close out victory in one hour, 25 minutes. "Until 6-1, 5-1 it was absolutely perfect", said Bartoli. "Then Kimiko started to play really well. She was swinging freely and hitting some really great shots.
"It wasn't my level going down, it was her playing too good. But I knew I just had to win one more game and that's what I did. "The games were quite tough and the level was not that big a difference." The 25-year-old French winner fired seven aces and broke six times in the showdown of generations at the 600,000-dollar tournament.
The event features the 10 highest-ranking players who have won a WTA International title this year but who did not compete in the season-ending WTA Championships in Qatar, which ended last weekend. Two wildcards were also included. Bartoli, a Wimbledon finalist in 2007, is seeking her third title of the season, after Stanford and Monterrey. "I like this surface but I think she likes it more than me, and I think she likes my ball also, very flat," said Date Krumm.