Russian Svetlana Kuznetsova completed a trophy hat-trick at the Wismilak International Sunday, defeating Marion Bartoli 7-5, 6-2 in a match marred by an errant tennis missile.
The top seed added the 2006 title to those she earned here in 2002 over Conchita Martinez and the week after her US Open trophy in 2004 when she stopped German Marlene Weingartner.
But a shocked Bartoli, ranked 26th, complained of ill will as she was accidently struck hard on the arm by a ball during warm-up off the Russian's racket.
PHOTO: EPA
Kuznetsova, unbeaten in all her 13 matches in Bali, called the matter an accident, explaining: "She was standing just at the net, I was hitting from behind the baseline. And we were hitting hard."
Bartoli failed to react in time, the ball hitting her left arm. She blinked back tears and went to the sidelines for ice.
"Of course I said right away I was sorry," said Kuznetsova, fifth in the world. "But when she saw that ball coming, she didn't seem to move."
"I'm sorry it happened, but I couldn't do anything else, I couldn't take the shot back," she said.
Bartoli, who was fresh from an upset of second seed Patty Schnyder in the semi-finals, said: "It didn't affect my game, but it was a shock."
"She hit the ball hard straight at me," said the French finalist, winner of the Auckland event in January. "That's not the way you warm up. She apologized but I couldn't believe it."
Kuznetsova now stands 7-7 in career finals. She said that even though she got through a battle with nine aces and nine double-faults, the contest had an anti-climatic feel about it after defeating holder Lindsay Davenport a day earlier.
"I went into this match as a favorite," the Russian said. "It felt different out there today, maybe not so exciting for me."
The title was the second this season for Kuznetsova, who won the Miami trophy in March but lost the final at Roland Garros to Justine Henin-Hardenne.
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