Indian Wells, California: France’s world No 11 Marion Bartoli booked a third-round berth at Indian Wells on Friday and revealed she prepared under the guidance of new coaches Jana Novotna and Iwona Kuczynska.
Bartoli said the decision was made after the Dubai Duty Free Women’s Championship last month.
In Dubai, Bartoli said she was seeking guidance from former French great Amelie Mauresmo but would still need to find a regular coach after splitting with her father Walter, who had coached her since introducing her to the game when she was six.
Bartoli said on Friday that she had only been working with Novotna, a former Wimbledon champion, and Poland’s Kuczynska for four days and that so far she thought the two provided a perfect balance.
“Jana, of course, knows tennis very well,” Bartoli said. “She knows what it is mentally to be on the court,” she said.
Bartoli, who added that Kuczynska was more focused on training and technique, said she would still take advantage of the advice available from French Fed Cup captain Mauresmo, who has worked with France’s Michael Llodra and women’s world No 1 Victoria Azarenka.
Novotna, 44, won Wimbledon in 1998 and a 1996 Olympic singles bronze medal. The Czech also knows just how cruel the game can be, famously sobbing on the Duchess of Kent’s shoulder in 1993 after squandering a commanding third-set lead and losing the Wimbledon final to Steffi Graf. Novotna rose as high as No 2 in the world and won 24 singles titles in a 12-year WTA career.
Meanwhile, two-time Grand Slam champion Svetlana Kuznetsova’s cold-weather wardrobe proved more trouble than the chilly temperatures on Friday at the Indian Wells ATP Masters and WTA tournament. The Russian had to bounce back from being blanked in the opening set to beat former world No 1 Jelena Jankovic 0-6, 6-2, 7-5.
“I tried to play in the long tight pants first set,” said Kuznetsova, who advanced to a third-round meeting with ninth-seeded Bartoli. “I cannot.
“I can practice in it without problem, but when I have matches I always start to lose and I have to take it off and then everything changes.”
Kuznetsova stopped short of blaming her failure to win a game in the opening set on her leggings, which she wore to combat the cold.
However, she said she did move more freely once she took them off. “They are very tight, so they were kind of pushing my stomach so I was not so comfortable,” she said. “After I took it off, I was feeling a little bit looser.”
