Analysis for Bartoli-Sprem (WTA Stuttgart)

Head-to-head record 0:1

Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem will fight Marion Bartoli for the second round spot in Stuttgart. Bartoli is more experienced player but she is not playing her best at the moment. She is known for her unorthodox and intense style of play on the court. She uses two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, and is generally classed as an aggressive and hard-hitting player. She developed her two-handed style on the advice of her father, who is also her coach. Bartoli also had trouble with her forehand at the time, so when she made the switch to two hands, it greatly improved. She uses her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and prefers to take the ball early on groundstrokes and especially returns of serve, usually standing close to the baseline or even inside it during rallies. However, she is not a very good mover and is further inhibited by her two-fisted strokes, which can make her vulnerable to fast all-court players. Bartoli is also known for her unusual serve, in which she uses her wrist to generate speed. Her YTD results are just mediocre and her current form is far from her career best. She will face Croatian qualifier Karolina Sprem. Her career highlight is a quarterfinal appearance at Wimbledon in 2004 where she defeated two-time champion, four-time finalist and then-world No. 8 Venus Williams in the second round before losing to Lindsay Davenport in the quarterfinal. But she is a very solid clay court player as well and came through the tough qualifiers pretty easily. Her YTD record is more than stellar as she noted 25 wins and only 4 losses and even if she hasn’t played the top opponents yet, we think that she has the chance against Bartoli. She has the qualifying matches under the belt and must be full of self-confidence for this match. We will stay with Sprem at the odds above 2.