Rezai gifted Bali title by Bartoli injury

 

Originally published on: 26/02/10 11:49

Tearful top seed Marion Bartoli retired midway through the final of the Tournament of Champions with a thigh injury, handing French compatriot Aravane Rezai her third title of the season.

The world No.12 could have finished the year in the top ten with victory at the tournament, which featured the top-ranked winners of WTA International events who did not head to Doha for the WTA Tour Championships.

But that dream ended with Bartoli trailing 7-5 after a double-fault ended the encounter after 62 minutes.

Im crying right now, but Im so happy to be here, said Bartoli, who was runner-up in Bali three years ago to Svetlana Kuznetsova when it was a regular WTA Tour event.

My leg was hurting. I tried my best to carry on, but it was too much pain. Im sorry I wasnt able to finish today. Aravane had a wonderful week and played some great tennis, she added.

The victory gave world No.44 Rezai her second title of the season, something which may have looked unlikely 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 Spains Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez.

Its a great feeling to be here in the final, Im very sorry for Marion that this happened, said the Frenchwoman. Id prefer to win in a different way, but its tennis, a lot of different things happen. I was really motivated to win here.

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