By: Matt DeCorso

Marion Bartoli versus Cara Black

Firstly, the tournament organizers are very lucky to have this match as a round of 16 match becuase it could have easily been a semifinal, given the status of these two talented women.

I will start first with Bartoli. I guess I should have trusted my heart because Marion utterly DESTROYED the Spaniard 6-2 6-0!! That shocked me becuase I definitley expected Anabel to put up a fight. I have a friend who was viewing stats and watching live ( she lives in New Zealand) and the match and she said that Marion's confident disposition was stunning. She also said that Anabel made errors but a lot of them were forced by Bartoli. In this match against Black, expect Bartoli to be very rested and ready to go as she played a short match. Also a thing I RECOMMEND she does, is, try and take away the net from Cara. I know she's not that good a volleyer but Cara won't expect it so that would turn the tables a lot.

Weakness: I think the only weakness is that Marion will be overwhelmed by Black's volleying, depending on how much she volleys and if they are consistent. Other than that it should be good for the Bartoli end.

Cara Black was a doubles finalist with Elena Likhovtseva last year so she knows the courts pretty well! She is also the woman who shocked number 4 seed Maria Vento Kabchi when she played amazingly well to upset her 6-2 6-2. So, as you can see, she's rested as well. In this match against Bartoli look for her to use her doubles prominence to her advantage. All the doubles crowns she has won have really helped her game become more rounded.

She has a solid game that can get on the nerves of a lot of the top 100. I remember watching her play Davenport at Wimbledon last year and she would stay in the rallies with Lindsay but couldn't put away the point as she had no weapons.

Weakness: Lack of weapons. As I said earlier, it is VITAL that you have at least one weapon in which you can resort to that will help you win games. Cara has a solid, thorough game but it's just not aggressive enough. I haven't seen her play so she may have become more offensive but you'll have to wait and see.

Who has the Edge?

Serve- Bartoli

Groundies- Bartoli

Intangibles- ???? Black coming off an upset or Bartoli with her demolition of Anabel?

Movement- Black

Volleys- Black. Bartoli would have a good volley if she came to net more but

I think her doubles outings ths year will help her improve that.

This may be a good match but I can sort of see Black running a lot and just being on leash. For Marion, play the way you did yesterday and just surprise Black with some mix up plays. Cara you are going to be running a lot today so I hope you have your good shoes! Just try to put the ball in play and move Bartoli around because her movement is limited.

Matt's Pick- There will be a few flashes of an aggressive Cara but not a whole lot thereby giving Bartoli the win 6-4 6-3.