Quirky Bartoli wins maiden Wimbledon title

Bartoli outclassed Germany's Sabine Lisicki to complete her first Grand Slam victory.

LONDON: As Marion Bartoli curled up to sleep on a sofa in the Wimbledon locker room, it was hard to believe the French star was just minutes away from one of the biggest matches of her life.

Throughout her career, Marion Bartoli's game has been marked by bizarre routines. The most notorious of these would be the series of jumps, skips, shuffles and racquet twirls she performs when preparing to to serve or return. But taking a 30-minute nap just before her third Grand Slam semi-final was unique even by her standards.

Outside, Wimbledon's Centre Court was buzzing in anticipation of Bartoli’s clash with Belgium's Kirsten Flipkens. Inside, though, 15th seed Bartoli decided now was the time for a snooze. On waking up, she proceeded to rout Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in just 62 minutes to clinch her second Wimbledon final appearance.

Still, there was more to come from the revitalised Frenchwoman.
Bartoli returned to Centre Court on Saturday and demolished Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4 with a superb display of power hitting to win the first Grand Slam title of her career. It was especially fitting that Bartoli's victory came at Wimbledon, where she lost her only previous Grand Slam final to Venus Williams in 2007.

"Holding this trophy has been my dream since I was six years old. I cannot believe it," Bartoli said. "Finishing with an ace, in my wildest dreams I'd never believe it. I have practised my serve for so long, at least I kept it for the best moment!"

Bartoli has never been one to do things the easy way.

She grew up outside the tennis mainstream, coached by her father Walter, who was a doctor with no background in the sport but still gave his job up to transform his daughter into a professional. During sessions at home, Bartoli practiced with home-made contraptions set up by her father, whereas her court positioning inside the baseline is a legacy of her days learning the game on a tiny court in the Haute-Loire region of France.

Bartoli quit being coached by her father, but her Wimbledon triumph has vindicated her decision to cut ties with him and employ Amelie Mauresmo as her new coach earlier this year. With Bartoli's results on the slide and her father conceding that she might benefit from a different voice, she made the emotional decision to hire Mauresmo. The improvement in her game is now clear to see.
It helps that Bartoli has always been able to keep her life on court in perspective.
"I've always been someone who loves to smile and have a laugh. Of course sometimes you have sad moments but I've had a great run here and right now I'm smiling even more," she said.

Even for someone of Bartoli's up-beat disposition, her imperious march to the Wimbledon title without dropping a set was something of shock. She is the first Frenchwoman to win a Grand Slam since Mauresmo at Wimbledon in 2006 and the first from outside the world's top 10 to triumph at the All England Club since Venus in 2007.

It was a far cry from the way she first burst onto the scene six years ago.

Then, Bartoli reached the Wimbledon final as an unheralded 18th seed, losing to Williams in straight sets after she had caused a huge shock with her semi-final victory over then world no. 1, Justine Henin. In true Bartoli fashion, she said she had turned the Henin match around after seeing the former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan in the crowd, thinking that she had to play well in front of him.

On the evidence of her demolition of Lisicki, though, the days of Bartoli needing inspiration from film stars seem long gone.