Tearful Bartoli quits Bali tennis final with injury

Uzbekistan News.Net
Sunday 8th November, 2009 (IANS)

Tearful top seed Marion Bartoli was forced to quit the final of the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions Sunday with a thigh injury, giving French compatriot Aravane Rezai her third title of the season.

Number 12 Bartoli was in line for a number 10 finish, had she claimed the trophy. But that dream ended for the 22-year-old as she had to quit in pain, trailing 7-5, after a double-fault which ended the 62-minute encounter at this tropical resort.

'I'm crying right now, but I'm so happy to be here,' said Bartoli, who was runner-up at Bali three years ago against Svetlana Kuznetsova when it was part of the regular WTA Tour.

'My leg was hurting. I tried my best to carry on, but it was too much pain. I'm sorry I wasn't able to finish today. Aravane had a wonderful week and played some great tennis,' she said.

Bartoli missed out on her third title of the season.

The victory gave 44th-ranked Rezai a sweep this week at the year-end event after coming to Bali following consecutive first-round losses in Beijing, Linz and Luxembourg.

The 22-year-old turned her luck around with two group wins and a semi-final defeat of Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

'It's a great feeling to be here in the final, I'm very sorry for Marion that this happened,' said Rezai, winner of a career-best $200,000 and now over the million-dollar mark in prize money.

'I'd prefer to win in a different way, but it's tennis, a lot of different things happen. I was really motivated to win here.'

Rezai stands 2-2 in career finals after finishing runner-up at 2007 Istanbul and 2008 Auckland. She is projected to reach the Top 30.

Rezai claimed the second trophy of her career after Strasbourg in May.

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