CORNET IS NEXT

Francesca Schiavone will face Alize Cornet of France in the quarter final of the Grand Prix de SAR La Princesse Lalla Meryem.

This season has been a tough one for Schiavone. She hasn’t managed to reach the semi finals in any tournament this season.

Her best performance thus far in the ongoing season was in the tournament in Acapulco where she had reached the final 8. She had been defeated by Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in the quarter finals there.

She has reached the quarter finals here at Morocco as well and she would want to go all the way this time around.

Schiavone has won her first couple of matches in this tournament quite comfortably. In the first round, she took on Petra Martic of Croatia and defeated her in the straight sets by 7-6, 6-4.

In the second round, Schiavone had another easy win over the Romanian player Simona Halep.

On the other hand, Cornet had a mixed last season, but, in this season, she hasn’t played that badly. She has been consistent and has played well in most of the tournaments.

In this tournament, Cornet started with a dominating victory over the local player Fatima El Allami in the first round. However, in the following round, she was tested a bit by Karin Knapp of Italy. She lost the first set by 1-6 in that match, but, then, came back to win the next two sets.

Schiavone has a dominating record against Cornet. She has played against the Frenchwoman 8 times before and has defeated her 7 times.

However, Cornet’s current world ranking is a bit better than Schiavone. She is at no. 33, while, Schiavone is at no. 48.

So, quite clearly, some of the stats are in Schiavone’s favour, while, the others are in the favour of Cornet. So, it’s hard to tell who will be the favourite in tomorrow’s match. It’s a 50-50 kind of a clash.

Watch – Lina Qostal v Karin Knapp – Online – Lalla Meryem grand prix tennis Live -

Schiavone Online video Rating: / five

Francesca Schiavone Hitting a Nadal Forehand

Schiavone Video clip Score: / five

SCHIAVONE SHOWS THE WAY

Francesca Schiavone has defeated her countrywoman Flavia Pennetta in the first round of the BNP Paribas Open. Schiavone won the match in the straight sets by 7-5, 6-1.

Schiavone who is unseeded in this tournament took 109 minutes to get better of her compatriot.

This was the seventh clash between these two players. In the last two matches, Schiavone was beaten by Pennetta in the straight sets, but, in this match, Schiavone didn’t let that happen.

Pennetta served a total of nine double faults in the match. Also, she got 14 break points in the match, but, she managed to capitalize on only three of them.

In the opening set, neither of the two players served that well. In the first 6 games, both of them dropped their serve two times and at the end of the 6^th game, the score was 3-3.

Pennetta got her third breakthrough in the 7^th game and then, enhanced her lead to 5-3 with a serve hold in the 8^th game. She was looking in a great position at that time, but, Schiavone turned the set in her favour with some extraordinary tennis in the next 4 games. With the help of serve breaks in the 10^th and the 12^th game, she grabbed the opening set by 7-5.

That late onslaught in the first set boosted Schiavone’s confidence and she went absolutely berserk in the next set. With breakthroughs in the 2^nd and the 4^th game, she took a lead of 5-0. Pennetta held her serve in the 6^th game, but, that was too little too late. A serve hold by Schiavone in the 7^th game ensured Pennetta’s defeat.

In the post match interview, Schiavone said, “In the first set, there were certainly a lot of mistakes committed by me especially on my serve. But, in the second set, I improved my game and won it comfortably.”

Dubai Interviews: Wozniacki, Zvonareva, Schiavone, Stosur & Li

Schiavone Video Rating: four / 5

SCHIAVONE RUES MISTAKES

Francesca Schiavone has been defeated by Marion Bartoli in the first round of the Qatar Ladies Open which is being played at Doha. Bartoli won the match in the straight sets by 7-6(5), 6-3.

In the next round, Bartoli will face Svetlana Kuznetsova of Russia who made her way into the second round with a win over Bethanie Mattek-Sands of USA.

Bartoli didn’t have a good start in the match against Schiavone. She dropped her serve in the second game of the opening set and got trailed by 0-3. The next five games went with the serve and at the end of the eighth game; Bartoli was trailed by 3-5. The Frenchwoman got a breakthrough in the ninth game and then, she held her serve in the next game to level the scores.

Both the players held their serve in the next couple of games and the scores got tied at 6-6.

In the tie breaker, both the players fought hard for each and every point, but, it was Bartoli who prevailed eventually.

In the second set, Bartoli again had a poor start and she dropped her serve in the very first game. But, she recovered quickly by breaking Schiavone’s serve in the second game. There were no breakthroughs in the next three games and at the end of the fifth game; the score was 3-2 in the favour of Bartoli.

In the sixth game, Bartoli managed to sneak another breakthrough and then, by serving out the next game, she got ahead by 5-2. Schiavone desperately needed breakthroughs to prevent Bartoli from running away with the match, but, she didn’t succeed in that. With a serve hold in the 9^th game, Bartoli won the match and cruised into the next round.