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Osterloh boots ill Bartoli

Plus: Srebotnik the realist; Serena, Ivanovic pull out of SD;
BOW won't go to SD, but will it stay at Stanford?

By Matthew Cronin, TennisReporters.net

Mal Taam/MALTphoto

Marion Bartoli's continuing injury problems were not helped by Lilia Osterloh's game.

FROM THE BANK OF THE WEST CLASSIC IN STANFORD – Marion Bartoli spent Thursday through Sunday throwing up twice a day, saddled with a stomach flu. For most of her 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 loss to Lilia Osterloh in the second round, the Wimbledon finalist hobbled around with a thigh and hip injury. She was slow, sluggish, but still game, which is admirable. But if she wants to make any impact at the US Open, she has to take better care of herself because she played at no more than 50 percent of her ability.

"I'm not completely healthy and my body hasn't recovered from the past two months and it's showing signs of overtiredness," Bartoli said.

"I had no energy and felt so sick and it cost me in the match. I'm not pushing hard enough and my serve isn't working at all. But [Osterloh] took all her chances and she can play very well."

Both women left the court with tears in their eyes, Bartoli because she tried to stick it out but couldn't design a winning strategy with leaden legs, and Osterloh because she scored the biggest win on her former home court since winning the NCAAs for Stanford in 1999.

"When you are not 100 percent, but you are still trying, it's very frustrating," said Bartoli, who has played 31 tournaments over the past year, the most of the Sony Ericsson WTA's Top 20, even more than Jelena Jankovic. "I just hate to lose and losing this way is not a good feeling."

The 22-year-old Frenchwoman tried to keep the points super short, but she had no pop on her serve and, when Osterloh managed to vary her serves and keep the ball away from Bartoli's scary wheelhouse, she gained control of points.

Bartoli will now head to San Diego for a few days of rest before the Acura Classic begins on Monday, but she's considering pulling out of a few tournaments if she doesn't get her energy back.

The 29-year-old Osterloh now gets a chance to show that her vow of playing big-time tennis at a later age is not just an idle boast, as she'll face eight-seed Sybille Bammer in the quarters.

"It's a great feeling to beat someone who beat the No. 1 and No. 3 players in the world at Wimbledon," she said. "It helps my confidence a lot."

If every player was like seventh-seed Katarina Srebotnik of Slovenia, the tour would be a much healthier place. Srebotnik took down Russia's Maria Kirilenko 6-0, 7-6(5), surviving a bizarre umpiring hiccup toward the end of the second set. She didn't roast the ump, who made the mistake of attempting to end the 11th game on a successful Kirilenko challenge that demanded a replay of the point. Kirilenko had ripped a backhand return that landed on the baseline. But the ball was called out just as Srebotnik made a play on it. The rules state that the point has to be replayed if a player has made an immediate play on the ball, but the umpire wasn't sure and Kirilenko went to her chair and sat. Srebotnik protested, called for the supervisor and after five minutes, the supervisor sided with the Slovenian.

Instead of attacking the umpire's foolish assessment, she cut her a break. "They make mistakes just like we do," Srebotnik said.

The Slovenian ended up winning the match and entering the quarters, a familiar part of the draw. She's been a good but not a great player this century, never reaching a Slam quarter, but winning five titles. She's ranked No. 25, which she considers to be an achievement. She has no designs on the Top 10. She's a realist and a happy one at that.

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