Marion Bartoli accepted a wildcard for the Barcelona Ladies Open and was a top seed at the event, but fell in the first round to Magdalena Rybarikova 6-4 6-1, who scored her first real victory over the Frenchwoman in their six meetings (Rybarikova had defeated Bartoli once, but it was a retirement).

Both Rybarikova and Bartoli won just 48% of points on their first serve, but the 72nd-ranked Slovak was much better in converting break opportunities, especially in the second set, and hence the decisive scoreline.

By beating the world No.13 Bartoli, Rybarikova scored her best win, ranking-wise, since Tokyo 2009, when she defeated Nadia Petrova, who was also ranked 13th. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

Top seed Caroline Wozniacki won her 14th career title and her second Premier Mandatory by defeating Marion Bartoli in the final of the BNP Paribas Open, 6-1 2-6 6-3. Interestingly, the Dane, known for her defensive game, won the $4.5-million tournament without hitting a single ace.

The 15th-seeded Bartoli, finalist at Wimbledon four years ago, took the second set and approached Wozniacki from 1-4 to 3-4 in the third set, when the 20-year-old world No.1 regrouped and won the match.

Besides Bartoli, Wozniacki defeated Sloane Stephens, Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez, Alisa Kleybanova, Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova at Indian Wells this year.

Wozniacki, who finished runner-up to Jelena Jankovic last time at the BNP Paribas Open, is now 14-9 in WTA finals and this is her second title of the year, following Dubai. France's Bartoli will, despite losing today, return to the Top 10 from her current ranking of No.17.

The winner's check amounts to $700,000, while Bartoli received $350,000 as a runner-up. (via WTA Tour)

World No.1 Caroline Wozniacki swept past Maria Sharapova more easily than expected, keeping her good form and taking advantage of the Russian’s 41 unforced errors to reach her second straight final at the BNP Paribas Open. The 16th-seeded Sharapova started the match by breaking Wozniacki’s serve, but from then on Sharapova couldn’t do much against the top seed, especially not with the overwhelming number of unforced errors outbalancing her 19 winners. Final score: 6-1 6-2.

I like this Sharapova’s quote about Wozniacki’s defensive style of play without winners: "I don't think it really matters if you don't miss.  I mean, then why do you need to hit winners?" Haha, great! Thanks, Forty Deuce, for sharing Sharapova's unique perspective.

Interestingly, Wozniacki has reached the title match of a $4.5 million tournament without hitting a single ace! Read more »

The quarterfinal encounter of 2008 Indian Wells champion Ana Ivanovic and Marion Bartoli featured 13 breaks of serve in two sets that together lasted more than two hours. The 19th-seeded Ivanovic was desperately fighting, while for the most part of the match seed No.15 Bartoli had a small but valuable advantage. Something was constantly missing in Ivanovic's game and Bartoli moved into the semifinals of the high-profile BNP Paribas Open with a 6-4 7-6(4) victory.

In a slow set full of breaks, at 5-4 Bartoli was serving to win it, and even though Ivanovic earned two break opportunities to level the score, Bartoli prevailed. The second set also started better for Bartoli, but Ivanovic was constantly fighting, leveling, and even led 5-4 for a short time. Bartoli was later serving for the match at 6-5, and even though Ivanovic forced a tiebreak, her troubles were cut short in that set and Bartoli made her way into the semifinals.

It will be Bartoli's third semifinal of the season, after Brisbane and Doha. A semifinalist in Indian Wells earns $150,000. The 17th-ranked Frenchwoman will play either Shahar Peer or Yanina Wickmayer for a place in the title match. (photo: angelicalbite)

France's Marion Bartoli was no match for in-form Caroline Wozniacki in the Qatar Ladies Open semifinals and the top-ranked Dane will now be looking for her second straight title, after her victory over Svetlana Kuznetsova last week in Dubai.

Bartoli may had defeated Wozniacki in their previous two meetings, once in Cincinnati in 2010 and once in Stuttgart in 2009, but her resistance today was very poor. The world No.18 won 11% of points on first serve, and it was only after Wozniacki raced to a 4-0 lead that Bartoli managed to win a game of her own. But that was pretty much it, until the third game of the second set, when Bartoli held her serve for the first time and won her second and her final game of the match. Therefore, the score is 6-1 6-1.

Wozniacki is now 4-2 against Bartoli. Her opponent in the final will be either No.2 seed Vera Zvonareva or No.5 seed Jelena Jankovic. (photo: Johan Rivera)