Marion Bartoli – Wimbledon Ladies’ Tennis Player
Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli has had an uphill battle on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) circuit since she turned pro in 2000. She had an unremarkable start to her career and it has only been in the 2007 season that she had shown some of her class and ability.
The 24-year-old has never won a Grand Slam or the WTA Championships, and to date she has only claimed nine singles titles, six of which were on the lowly International Tennis Federation (IFT) circuit.
Her 2008 season efforts were hampered by injury when she lost in the third round of Wimbledon 2008 due to a wrist injury that affected her game since the beginning of the year. She also suffered a hip sprain that caused her exit from the Bank of the West Classic 2008.
Clearly her best performances have come in 2007. She single-handedly caused one of the biggest upsets in Wimbledon history when she effectively destroyed world number one, Justine Henin, 1-6 7-5 6-1, in the semi-finals of the tournament.
Earlier she had defeated the world number three, Jelena Jankovic in the fourth round. She came from a set down in a rain-affected match to win 3-6 7-5 6-3. She then went on to defeat Micaella Krajicek, 3-6 6-3 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
Her hopes of a first Grand Slam win were dashed by current world number eight and five-time All England ladies singles champion, Venus Williams in two sets, 6-4 6-1.
Her confidence grew over the next couple of months, and at the US Open she reached the fourth round, only to lose to the other Williams sister, Serena, 6-3 6-4.
Serena would however toss her a lifeline for the end of the year WTA Sony Ericsson Championships. Only eight of the top players in the world qualify for the event, and Bartoli was not one of them. Serena started the tournament, played one match and was then forced to pull out of the WTA Championships injured.
This allowed Bartoli into the fray. She lost her first round robin match to Justine Henin who destroyed her, 6-0 6-0, in an effort to save face after her shock defeat at the hands of Bartoli at the Wimbledon Championships. Bartoli claimed the scalp of Serb, Jelena Jankovic, but only when the world’s number three retired hurt, 6-1 1-0.
She has shown a marked improvement in her game over the past two seasons. She ended 2005 ranked 40th in the world, in 2006 her ranking soared 23 places to the number 17 spot and at the end of the 2007 season she was firmly entrenched in the top ten of the WTA World Ranking, at number 10. She reached the world number 9 berth in 2008 and will no doubt climb higher.
Her 2007 Grand Slam record is as follows:
- Australian Open – Second round
- French Open – Fourth round
- Wimbledon – Finalist
- US Open – Fourth round
- Total Grand Slam win/loss record 13 – 4
Her 2007 WTA record is:
- Quarterfinals at Zurich and Montreal/Toronto
- Fourth round at Indian Wells
- Third round at Miami and San Diego
- Second round – Moscow and Charleston
- First round – Tokyo
Marion Bartoli has a long way to go before she can consistently beat the best tennis players in the world. She has shown her ability by occasional wins over the likes of Jelena Jankovic and Daniela Hantuchova, but when all is done and dusted it will probably be a long time before she can claim the Wimbledon 2009 ladies' singles title against defending champion Venus Williams.
