Marion Bartoli: I’ll be remembered for Wimbledon

Marion Bartoli of France announces her retirement from professional tennis. Picture: Getty

Just six weeks earlier, the 28-year-old Frenchwoman had shed tears of joy as she soaked up the applause following her straight sets win over Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in the Wimbledon final to claim her first and only grand slam title.

The toast of France, Bartoli decided to call it it a day even before the next grand slam, the US Open, after a second-round loss to Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati.

“Well, it’s never easy and obviously there is never a time to say it but that was actually the last match of my career. Sorry,” the world No 7 said with tears pouring from her eyes.

“It’s time for me to retire and to call it a career. I feel it’s time for me to walk away. My body, I just can’t do it anymore.”

Bartoli had offered no hint that she was contemplating retirement and seemed focused on preparing for Flushing Meadows, where she had her best grand slam result last season by reaching the quarter-finals. But the loss to Halep persuaded the circumspect Frenchwoman that the time was ripe to hang up her racket and, as the crowds left the stadium and headed out into the night, Bartoli did likewise to start a new chapter in her life.

“You never kind of know before it’s going to be your last match but I felt that way after the match. I felt I just couldn’t do this anymore,” Bartoli added. “After one set, my whole body was in pain.

“You know, everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No-one will remember the last match I played here.

“There are so many things to do in life rather than playing tennis, so I’m sure I will find something.”

An eight-times winner on the WTA Tour, Bartoli played in every grand slam since the 2002 US Open and was seen as one of the sport’s more durable competitors. But she made it clear that 13 years on the circuit had taken a heavy toll.

“I’ve been already through a lot of injuries since the beginning of the year,” she said. “I’ve been on the tour for so long and I really pushed through and left it all [out there] during that Wimbledon.

“I really felt I gave all the energy I have left inside my body. I have pain everywhere after  45 minutes or an hour of play. I’ve been doing this for so long. It’s just, body-wise, I just can’t do it anymore.”

The decision to retire was made easier by the fact that  Bartoli had finally realised her dream of becoming a grand slam champion. After winning Wimbledon, Bartoli said it had been her dream since she was six-years old to hold the trophy.

After 13 years and through 47 grand slam tournaments, she  finally made it a reality but, in so doing, sacrificed everything she had to offer.

“It’s hard to explain but, when you dreamed about something for so long and you have been on the tour for many, many, many years, you have been through up and downs and high and lows,” said Bartoli, struggling to regain her composure.

“My body was really starting to fall apart and I was able to keep it together, go through the pain with a lot of pain throughout this Wimbledon, and make it happen. That was probably the last little bit of something that was left inside me. I made my dream a reality and it will stay with me forever.”