France's Marion Bartoli moved into the final of the Brisbane International when compatriot Amelie Mauresmo withdrew injured during their semi-final today.
France's Marion Bartoli moved into the final of the Brisbane International when compatriot Amelie Mauresmo withdrew injured during their semi-final today.
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Bartoli was leading 4-0 when Mauresmo called for the trainer after suffering a left thigh strain and decided she couldn't continue.
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"It happened in the second game," Mauresmo said.
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"It wasn't such a big pain so I kept going but I couldn't really push off the serve and move the way I wanted.
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"It's frustrating and not how you want to end the tournament but I guess it's more sensible to make sure I'm 100 per cent for Melbourne (the Australian Open)."
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Bartoli, 24, was in total control when Mauresmo retired, breaking her opponent in the first game of the match and reeling off 15 consecutive points to open up a 4-0 lead.
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Bartoli said she noticed something was not right but concentrated on her own game rather than worry about Mauresmo.
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"You have to be really focused on your own game when you're playing and you try not to look too much on the other side of the net," she said.
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"I was trying to keep focusing on what I had to do but yes, it's really unfortunate Amelie had to retire.
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"I knew it was bad because Amelie never calls for the trainer."
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Bartoli will take on second seed Victoria Azarenka in tomorrow's final following the Belarusian's 6-3, 6-1 win over Italian Sara Errani.
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Azarenka was never in any danger against her opponent and broke Errani six times throughout the match, while the Italian could only break Azarenka's powerful serve once.
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Azarenka, ranked 16th in the world, has moved quietly through to the final, not dropping a set along the way.
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The 19-year-old's passage has gone largely unnoticed this week, with most of the attention on Ivanovic and former World No 1 Mauresmo.
But her impressive victories over Lucie Safarova in the quarter-finals and then Errani show Azaranka is ideally placed to go one better than last year when she finished runner-up to Li Na.
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"I'm obviously very happy. I just want to do better than the last time and win my first title," Azarenka said.
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"I will fight for every point (in the final). It's the last match so you have to give everything you have and stay positive no matter what."
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