After a brief cooperation with Jana Novotna that started ahead of Indian Wells and already during the next tournament of Miami the word was out that the split had happened and that father Walter was seen around the grounds, world No.14 Marion Bartoli hired Gerald Bremond who accompanied her in Monterrey, but only a week into their cooperation Bremond decided to leave, reportedly not being able to handle Walter’s constant influence.

"I stopped the cooperation. I quit. Marion, in my opinion, has one coach: Walter Bartoli, her father," said Bremond, adding that they split on good terms.

So much for Bartoli turning the page and separating from her father’s 22-year guidance. (via La Gazette Du Tennis, photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Twenty-eight-year-old Marion Bartoli made a tough decision to break free from her father Walter's 22-year-long tennis guidance, and despite talks that Amelie Mauresmo would be her new coach, Jana Novotna was hired ahead of Indian Wells and will work with the world No.11 full time. After reaching the Indian Wells quarterfinals with a 6-4 6-3 victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova, Bartoli ran to Novotna for a hug. Bartoli's next opponent is sixth seed Sara Errani.

Bartoli met Novotna, who happens to share her birthday of October 2nd, in Doha and is happy to be coached by a woman, believing that a woman champion can understand her best. The 44-year-old Novotna won one Grand Slam in singles in her career and it was at Wimbledon, where Bartoli played her sole Grand Slam final in 2007. (source: Tennis.com, photo via MungoNGus)

Just as we said that the Dubai draw opened up for titleholder Agnieszka Radwanska with withdrawals of Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams, the Pole went out to Petra Kvitova 6-2 6-4 in the quarterfinals, who has now recorded her first Top 5 win since her Wimbledon-winning 2011 season. Despite producing 38 unforced errors to 37 winners, Kvitova was better than Radwanska, whose numbers were modest six winners to five unforced errors. In the semifinals, the sixth-seeded Kvitova will play eighth seed Caroline Wozniacki, who battled past Marion Bartoli 4-6 6-1 6-4. The semifinal will be a clash of Top 2 players from the WTA rankings at the end of 2011.

The other Dubai semifinal will feature members of the top-ranked doubles pairing, Sara Errani and Roberta Vinci. The fifth-seeded Errani, who is 4-2 all-time against Vinci in singles, recovered from suffering a second-set bagel to defeat Nadia Petrova 6-4 0-6 6-3, while Vinci is enjoying one of the best weeks of her career, having recorded two straight Top 10 victories: against world No.6 Angelique Kerber on Wednesday and today against world No.9 Samantha Stosur 6-2 6-4. (photo: Ralf Reinecke)

The 2013 Qatar Total Open is the first tournament of Marion Bartoli's career without her father Walter by her side. The 28-year-old Frenchwoman won her opener against Francesca Schiavone 7-6(5) 6-3, even earning the Shot of the Day honor by the WTA, but today the ninth seed lost to Svetlana Kuznetsova 6-4 6-4, who's been rediscovering good results this year and came to Doha with two straight quarterfinals (Sydney and Melbourne).

Here's what Bartoli said about making the difficult decision to detach from her father's constant guidance:

I felt maybe at this stage of my career, when I have so much experience, I could maybe try a little bit more my way or differently. But I still love my dad. I still call him right after the match. …It’s a tough decision. I won’t say hard. I think tough. But, you know, at some point throughout my career I have been going through some tough decisions. That’s what helped me to be where I am right now… Read more »

After enjoying a bye in the first round of the Kremlin Cup, Caroline Wozniacki went past Urszula Radwanska, the younger and lower ranked Radwanska sister, to advance to the quarterfinals.

The third-seeded Dane converted all three of her break chances to win the first set of the second-round encounter and in the second set she quickly established a pretty commanding lead, but needed quite a bit of time to finish the match, wasting four match points at 5-2 and closing out on the fifth match point in the following game. Final score: 6-1 6-3.

Urszula's 2012 season has seen her gradually climb up the rankings, from No.102 at the start of the year to No.29 earlier this month, while now she's No.30. In the previous round of the Kremlin Cup she took out Grand Slam champion Francesca Schiavone, who has lost six of her last seven matches. Unlike Urszula, Caroline has had a disappointing season, failing to qualify for the WTA Championships for the first time since 2008 and spinning from the top of the rankings at the end of the 2011 season to No.11.

The last month's Seoul title did end the year-long title drought, but it can't erase the overall discouraging feel of 2012. Some of the reasons for the slump are, according to Wozniacki herself, numerous obligations towards sponsors and the media: Read more »