No. 2 seed Bartoli advances at Bank of the West
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Marion Bartoli was in trouble when her father came out of the stands to give her a few words of advice. The talk from her coach did her some good.
Bartoli won 11 consecutive games to beat Mallory Burdette of Stanford University, 7-5, 6-0, in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday.
"Mallory played extremely well," Bartoli said. "She was taking the ball early and hitting winners into the corners. I felt like I was playing myself. She was just too good."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Her father reminded her to use her feet more. That's when things changed.
"I had to wait for her to come down a little bit and I had to play better," Bartoli said. "I was very focused on my game, trying to get tactical and looking for my rhythm. I know how to play with pressure."
Burdette, like her college doubles partner Nicole Gibbs, upset a higher ranked player to advance.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"I had the momentum entering the second set and thought I played very well," said Bartoli, who lost to Serena Williams in last year's final. "She was still fighting extremely hard. It was not decided until the final point."
Burdette led 5-2 and was serving for set point when the second-seeded and 10th-ranked Bartoli suddenly became engaged in the match and fired off a series of winners.
"I am aware of how great an experience that was," Burdette said. "Yeah, I was a little disappointed because I had my chances in the first set. That's a testament to what a great player she is. If you don't take your chances when you have them, a player like her will take it away from you."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Burdette, who played in her first tournament since the end of the college season in May, will go on the road and play in a couple of pro circuit events.
Bartoli meets fifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer in Friday's quarterfinal. Five of the top six seeds are still alive in the tournament.
Third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia advanced in the late match, beating qualifier Erika Sema of Japan, 6-1, 6-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In other second-round matches, Urzula Radwanska of Poland upset eighth-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and Sorana Cirstea of Romania topped Saisai Zheng of China, 6-3, 6-3.