Full Name: Marion Bartoli
Date of Birth: October 2nd, 1984
Place of Birth: Geneva, Switzerland
Nationality: French
Height: 5ft 7in
Turned Professional: 2000
Photo of Marion Bartoli by chascow
Marion Bartoli is the current French no. 1 with seven WTA singles titles and three doubles titles. She was a beaten finalist at Wimbledon in 2007 and a semi-finalist at the 2011 French Open. She has also reached the quarter-finals of the Australian Open (2009) and the US Open (2012).
Bartoli won two ITF clay tournaments in the spring of 2001, gaining her a wildcard into her first Grand Slam, the French Open. She also won in Koksijde, Belgium and won her fourth ITF title in Columbus, Ohio in 2002. She gained her first Grand Slam match win by upsetting Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, 6–3, 6–1. In 2003, Bartoli reached her first WTA semi-finals in the Canberra Women's Classic, losing to Francesca Schiavone, 4–6, 6–3, 3–6.
Bartoli also reached the semi-final in Auckland at the start of 2004 and again in Hyderabad, making her first impression on the top 50 in the rankings. Her form also ignited her doubles partnership with compatriot Émilie Loit, reaching the semi-finals in Acapulco and the quarter-finals in Indian Wells before claiming their first WTA title in Casablanca.
She reached the third round of Wimbledon in singles and the quarter-finals in doubles before reaching her third semi-final of the season in Cincinnati. Unfortunately, she had to withdraw with a hand injury.
She ended 2004 with a world ranking of. 41. She showed her best form on grass when reaching the quarter-final at Eastbourne but did not capture her first title until the ASB Classic in Auckland in 2006,
beating Vera Zvonareva in the final, 6–2, 6–2. Bartoli won her second WTA singles title at the AIG Japan Open Tennis Championships in October, beating Aiko Nakamura, 2–6, 6–2, 6–2. She rounded off a successful season with a “double-bagel” victory over Olga Poutchkova to win the Bell Challenge in Quebec City.
Bartoli reached her first career Grand Slam fourth round at the French Open in 2007, losing to Jelena Janković, 1–6, 1–6 after struggling with a back injury. She progressed to the semi-final in Eastbourne before losing to world no. 1 Justine Henin, 1–6, 3–6. She was able to continue the momentum into Wimbledon, reaching her first Grand Slam final. Victories over Shahar Pe'er, Jelena Janković and Michaëlla Krajicek, Bartoli got the better of Henin in a thrilling semi-final. She fought back in determined fashion to win 1–6, 7–5, 6–1. Bartoli lost to three-time former champion Venus Williams in the final 4–6, 1–6. She was now elevated to a career high of no. 11 in the rankings. She also reached the quarter-final at the US Open for the first time and ended the year at number ten.
At Eastbourne in 2008, she defeated Sybille Bammer and Alisa Kleybanova before losing in the semi-final to Agnieszka Radwańska, 5–7, 3–6. She could not repeat her Wimbledon heroics of the previous year and was beaten in round three before reaching the final at Stanford. Bartoli lost to Aleksandra Wozniak, 5–7, 3–6. Bartoli made the final in her first event of 2009 at the inaugural Brisbane International, this time losing to Victoria Azarenka, 3–6, 1–6. She made it to the quarter-finals of the Australian Open and won her fourth career title at the Monterrey Open, beating Li Na 6-4, 6-3. She won in Stanford by beating Venus Williams in the final, 6–2, 5–7, 6–4 before reaching the quarter-finals of the US Open. In 2010, Bartoli reached the semi-final of the Sony Ericsson Open in Miami and again fell one short of the final at Eastbourne. She was beaten by Tsvetana Pironkova in the fourth round at Wimbledon and ended the year at number 16.
Bartoli’s 2011 season was interrupted by a torn calf muscle but she recovered to make the semi-finals in the Qatar Ladies Open and the quarter-finals in the BMV Malaysian Open in Kuala Lumpur. She made her first final of the year at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, losing to Caroline Wozniacki 1–6, 6–2, 3–6. She also made the final of the Internationaux de Strasbourg, but had to retire early in the second set. She then enjoyed her best French Open, reaching the semi-finals before losing to defending champion Francesca Schiavone. Bartoli then won the 2011 AEGON International at Eastbourne by beating Petra Kvitová in the final. Once again, she continued to impress on grass, beating Serena Williams in straight sets on her way to the Wimbledon quarter-finals. Williams gained her revenge in the semi-final at Stanford. Bartoli finished the year ranked no. 9 in the world, having reached 15 quarterfinals, 8 semi-finals, and 5 finals and won 2 titles.
Bartoli reached her first final of 2012 at the Open GDF Suez in Paris, losing to Angelique Kerber, 6–7, 7–5, 3–6. At Eastbourne, Bartoli made yet another run to the semi-finals, beating Sorana Cirstea, Aleksandra Wozniak, and Lucie Safarova before losing to Tamira Paszek, 6–4, 5–7, 4–6. Bartoli reached the quarter-finals at the US Open for the first time, beating Kvitová in the fourth round before losing in three sets to Maria Sharapova. Bartoli performed reasonably well at the 2013 Australian Open, beating Anabel Medina Garrigues and Vesna Dolonc before losing to Ekaterina Makarova 6–7(4), 6–3, 6–4.
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