Even though she had defeated two hot opponents on her way to the final, few gave Marion Bartoli a chance of winning the whole thing.

And why should they have? Bartoli was facing Venus Williams, who had dropped only five games total in her last four sets, routing Maria Sharapova in the quarters 6-2, 6-2, and Elena Dementieva in the semis 6-0, 6-1.  Bartoli, on the other hand, had to save two match points vs. Jelena Jankovic in her quarterfinal, before scraping to win it 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3.  She then barely made it through unseeded Samantha Stosur 6-3, 1-6, 6-1, with Stosur looking to be in complete control of the match before feeling the effects of a back injury.

But on Sunday Bartoli completely outplayed the five-time Wimbledon champion Williams, beating her 6-2, 5-7, 6-3 to secure the biggest title of the Frenchwoman's career.

Bartoli started the match incredibly well, breaking the biggest server in the WTA four of the first five times on her way out to a 6-2, 5-3 lead.  But her nerves, as she admitted during the match to her coach/father Walter Bartoli, took over, and she dropped four straight games to lose the second 7-5.

But, to the surprise of just about everyone, Bartoli refused to wilt quietly in the third, instead breaking Williams twice in the third to take it 6-3.  Bartoli won an incredible 9 of 10 points in the third on Venus' second serve, which helped her cause enormously.

Wasn't a totally bad day for Williams in the end, as she paired with her sister Serena to take home the doubles title, their first WTA level doubles title since 1999.  They beat surprise finalists Monica Niculescu and Yung-Jan "Latisha" Chan 6-4, 6-1

A lot of jokes have been made about Bartoli's once unathletic physique (read: chunky), but she's in much better shape now.  She was able to hang with Williams in a lot of long rallies that she would have dropped out of early as recently as last year.  Bartoli has also completely changed her service motion since losing to Venus in the 2007 Wimbledon final, making it now much more consistent and formidable. 

Bartoli is still a completely unpredictable quantity so it's too early to make bold predictions about her chances at the US Open, but she's definitely now atop the list of darkhorses.

I didn't think Marion Bartoli had much of a chance of beating Samantha Stosur in the semifinals of Stanford.  I didn't think so after the first set, which Bartoli won 6-3, and I certainly didn't think so after the second set, which Stosur took convincingly, 6-1.

But there Bartoli was, breaking Stosur three times in the final set to win the match 6-3, 1-6, 6-1.

Marion Bartoli has such a unorthodox, hit-or-miss game that I have a tough time putting a lot of faith in her tennis.  But her wins over Jelena Jankovic and Samantha Stosur this week were both impressive, especially this most recent win over Stosur, who had just looked incredibly sharp in defeating Serena Williams in the quarterfinals.

Bartoli's two-handed play and early ball striking helped her generate some incredible angles against Stosur, including some short, low balls out wide that challenged the Aussie's questionable movement.  Stosur's back injury played a role in how lopsided the final set was, to be sure, but even more important was Stosur's visible lack of confidence in her game as her forehand broke down.  Bartoli makes things incredibly uncomfortable for her opponent most every match, and this win was a direct result of that.

In a rematch of the 2007 Wimbledon Final, do I think Bartoli has any chance of testing Venus Williams, who beat Elena Dementieva, the #4 player in the world 6-0, 6-1 in her semifinal? Absolutely not.

But it might be more interesting than expected.

Considering the seeming unanimity with which Serena has been declared #1 by the tennis community, Samantha Stosur committed regicide Friday in the Stanford quarterfinals.

The unseeded Australian more known for her doubles dismantled top-seeded WTA #2 Serena Williams in the third set after dropping the second, advancing to her first ever US Open Series semifinal by the score of 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Down 15-40 and serving at 2-2, Stosur reeled off an incredible thirteen points in a row that completely took Williams out of it both on the scoreboard and psychologically, leaving her without any of the trademark fight she is known for in late stages of matches.

For all the flak Dinara Safina caught for entering  that tiny tournament in Portoroz, she still managed to win it.  And while there was not anyone else in Portoroz with as high a ranking as Stosur (or several other players entered in Stanford, for that matter), there is something to be said for winning. Safina won her tournament, and Serena didn't win hers.  Tough to keep making the argument about Serena deserving the #1 ranking at any time except the eight weeks of the year when a slam is going on.

But as much as the ink is going to be spilled over Serena's exit, Stosur's win may prove to be the more significant event long haul.  When I talked with Rennae Stubbs about Stosur's game, Stubbs made it clear that it was on hard courts that she would do the most damage, because of her forehand and her kick serve (the latter of which Lindsay Davenport called the best in the women's game).

Stosur, in my mind, is a heavy favorite to beat Bartoli today, but probably won't prove much of a threat to the winner of the Dementieva-Venus Williams semifinal.  Though I didn't expect Serena to be given as much trouble as she did either, so I can't totally rule out the Aussie taking home the title in Palo Alto, either.

For all the talk about how the WTA rankings don't work because of who is currently ranked #1, there's not nearly enough discussion about how they don't work because of who is ranked #62.

Maria Sharapova absolutely trounced world #10 Nadia Petrova on Wednesday in the second round of Stanford, by the score of 6-1, 6-2, in a match that lasted just 61 minutes.

Sharapova won 70% of points on her serve, which is very impressive.  She also won 54% of points when returning, which against a powerful top-ten opponent is absolutely nuts.

Here are some scary stats on the current world #62's record on hard courts, a surface which, as I noted after Wimbledon, has definitely become a more comfortable medium for her than grass.:

• Distant as it seems, Sharapova actually won the last hard court slam she entered, the 2008 Australian Open.  Seeded fifth, her lowest seeding at a major since 2004, Sharapova beat the #1 (Henin), #3 (Jankovic) and #4 (Ivanovic) players on her way to the title.  She's also won two of the last four hard court slams she's entered, going back to her 2006 US Open title.
  
• Because she missed ten months due to shoulder surgery, the last time she had the chance to play on hard courts was during the early part of 2008 that included that Australian Open.  Sharapova went 18-1 on the hard stuff between January and March 2008.  Her first tournament back on the hard stuff since March 2008? Stanford 2009.
  
• Not counting Flushing Meadows itself, Sharapova has won her last ten US Open Series matches , and 20 of her last 21, a dominance that stretches all the way back to 2005. 
  

Sharapova likely faces Venus Williams in the quarterfinals at Stanford on Friday.  While I don't think anyone would give her too much of a chance to beat Venus (despite her career 3-0 record vs. the elder Williams on hard courts), it will be an interesting test of just how far Sharapova has left to climb.