 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Factbox on Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, who announced her retirement from tennis at 28 after a second round loss at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati on Wednesday.
Born: October 2 1984 in Le Puy en Velay, France.
Turned professional in 2000
Winner of eight WTA singles titles and three doubles.
Career high ranking: 7 (current)
* Was introduced to tennis at six by her father, who went on to give up his career as a doctor to coach her for most of her career.
* Made her debut on the WTA Tour in 2001 at the French Open with her unusual two handed forehand and backhand style modelled on former world number one Monica Seles.
* Broke into the top 20 in 2006 by claiming her first WTA titles in Auckland, Tokyo and then Quebec City.
* Her aggressive style was always well suited to grasscourts and she upset world number one Justin Henin and number three Jelena Jankovic to make the Wimbledon final in 2007, but lost to Venus Williams.
* Claimed her fourth and fifth career titles in 2009 at Monterrey and then Stanford but failed to make an impact at the Grand Slams with only one quarter final appearance (2009 Australia Open) in 14 attempts.
* Reached the semi-finals of the 2011 French Open but fell to Italian Francesca Schiavone. Returned to the grasscourts in England and won the Eastbourne title and then triumphed again in Japan at the Osaka event to cement her position in the top 10.
* Did not play at Wimbledon in the 2012 London Olympics because of a long standing row with the French Federation, who refused to allow her to use her dad as coach in the Fed Cup.
* Stopped being coached by her father in February 2013 and employed France's twice Grand Slam champion and former world number one Amelie Mauresmo.
* The move paid off and she claimed her first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon in fine style, without dropping a set, defeating Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the final.
* Withdrew from Stanford and Carlsbad tournaments through injury but returned to action in Toronto last week only to lose to Magdalena Rybarikova of Slovakia in the last 16.
* The world number seven then shocked the tennis world by announcing her retirement at 28 after a second round loss to Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open on Wednesday.
Image: Marion Bartoli
Photograph: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
