We are all probably in an element of shock with the news that Marion Bartoli has announced her retirement from tennis, especially after being on such a high by winning Wimbledon. She dreamed a dream and it was an amazing dream that came true for her.
Marion has always been a bit different. She has marched to the beat of a different drum and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. How boring it would be if all players were the same. Marion stood out from the pack; she played the game her way and good for her. While she was a bit quirky, and I hasten to add that I do not mean that in any sort of negative sense, she was always a very nice person.
Bartoli worked hard. She had emotion and passion about the game and no one can be knocked if they have that and always gave 100%. Bartoli did that and more.
But there comes a time when an individual just can’t do it anymore and that was the situation with Marion as she explained her decision during the tournament in Cincinnati. It had nothing to do with being upset after a loss to Simona Halep in her first match after winning Wimbledon.
“My body just can't do it anymore,” she said. “I've been already through a lot of injuries since the beginning of the year. I've been on the tour for so long, and I really push through and leave it all during that Wimbledon. I really felt I gave all the energy I have left inside my body.
“I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything. I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play. I've been doing this for so long. And, yeah, it's just body wise I just can't do it anymore.”
She needs to be applauded for making such a courageous decision to go out on such a high. In the same situation, the vast majority of players would have kept trying to make a go of it only to be left with disappointment. The fun is taken out of the job when there are so many obstacles, as she has been through, in the way.
“Well, you never kind of know before it's going to be your last match, but I felt that way after the match,” said Bartoli. “I felt I just couldn't do this anymore. I mean, after one set, my whole body was in pain. Everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No one will remember the last match I played here.
“It's been a tough decision to take. I don't take this easily. I've been a tennis player for a long time, and I had the chance to make my biggest dream a reality. I felt I really, really push through the ultimate limits to make it happen. But now I just can't do it anymore.”
She added: “When you dreamed about something for so long and you have been on the tour for many, many, many years and you have been through up and downs and high and lows and already a lot of injuries since the beginning of the year, 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. It's fine. I have the right to do something else as well. I've been playing for a long, long time, and it's time for me now. It is.”
Bartoli doesn’t know what she will do just yet. She needs time to settle down after such a huge announcement. There is no doubt she will find something, she is too smart.
“There is a lot of excitement as a woman. There is a lot of excitement as a wife. There is a lot of excitement as a mother. There is a lot of excitement to come up,” said Marion. “Obviously I'm excited to live my future, but I will have some time to think about it for the months, years to come.”
She was asked what she is most proud of beside her Wimbledon crown and she said being the same person she has always been and “being honest, being loyal” to her friends and all those who have helped her career
“I always respect them, and I always felt that I always respect everyone, and I think if people ask, How is Marion Bartoli? They will always respond, ‘she's a nice person’. That's what I'm most proud of,” she said.
I for one can vouch for that. She is a nice person.
