Bartoli into final as Cibulkova withdraws
Date published :
30 Jul 2011 - 22:00:10
Third-seeded Marion Bartoli of France moved into the final of the WTA US Open tuneup here Saturday on a walkover as injured Dominika Cibulkova withdrew before their match.
Slovakia's Cibulkova, the eighth seed, pulled out with a left abdominal muscle strain.
Bartoli, ranked ninth in the world, reached her fourth final of the year and her third at Stanford, where she won the title in 2009.
Bartoli reached the semis after playing just one set of her scheduled quarter-final against Ayumi Morita. The Japanese player withdrew trailing 6-1 with an ankle injury.
Bartoli, the only seeded player remaining in the draw, will face either former world number one Serena Williams or Wimbledon semi-finalist Sabine Lisicki in Sunday's final.
Williams, a 13-time Grand Slam champion, is unseeded as she rebuilds a world ranking that slumped due to her 11-month injury layoff.
The America ousted second-seeded Russian Maria Sharapova in the quarter-finals on Friday.
