Marion Bartoli was in trouble when her father came out of the stands to give her a few words of advice. The talk from her coach did her some good.
Bartoli won 11 consecutive games to beat Mallory Burdette of Stanford University, 7-5, 6-0, in the second round of the Bank of the West Classic on Thursday.
''Mallory played extremely well,'' Bartoli said. ''She was taking the ball early and hitting winners into the corners. I felt like I was playing myself. She was just too good.''
Her father reminded her to use her feet more. That's when things changed.
''I had to wait for her to come down a little bit and I had to play better,'' Bartoli said. ''I was very focused on my game, trying to get tactical and looking for my rhythm. I know how to play with pressure.''
Burdette, like her college doubles partner Nicole Gibbs, upset a higher ranked player to advance.
''I had the momentum entering the second set and thought I played very well,'' said Bartoli, who lost to Serena Williams in last year's final. ''She was still fighting extremely hard. It was not decided until the final point.''
Burdette led 5-2 and was serving for set point when the second-seeded and 10th-ranked Bartoli suddenly became engaged in the match and fired off a series of winners.
''I am aware of how great an experience that was,'' Burdette said. ''Yeah, I was a little disappointed because I had my chances in the first set. That's a testament to what a great player she is. If you don't take your chances when you have them, a player like her will take it away from you.''
Burdette, who played in her first tournament since the end of the college season in May, will go on the road and play in a couple of pro circuit events.
Bartoli meets fifth-seeded Yanina Wickmayer in Friday's quarterfinal. Five of the top six seeds are still alive in the tournament.
Third-seeded Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia advanced in the late match, beating qualifier Erika Sema of Japan, 6-1, 6-3.
In other second-round matches, Urzula Radwanska of Poland upset eighth-seeded Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, and Sorana Cirstea of Romania topped Saisai Zheng of China, 6-3, 6-3.
