LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Marion Bartoli: Centre Court
built 638 days ago
Marion started entering tournaments regularly at the age of 16. After a few aborted starts in 1999 and 2000 and getting to the last 16 of the Australian Open Juniors in 2001 she attacked the ITF $10,000 clay events in the spring. Winning two tournaments back to back in May (in Hatfield and Torino) ensured the French Open gave her a wildcard into her first grand slam. Purely a learning experience she lost to Catalina Castaño, who was ranked just outside the top 100. Entering the Juniors of the same event proved a harder experience for Bartoli who was in tears on court being dumped out 6-0, 6-1 by Myriam Casanova after losing the first 11 games of the match. The rest of the year comprised of entering bigger tournaments and consistently improving her ranking.
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Marion ... had trouble with her forehand at the time, so when she made the switch to two hands, it greatly improved. She uses her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and prefers to take the ball early on groundstrokes and especially returns of serve, usually standing close to the baseline or even inside it during rallies. Her style of play can be most closely compared to that of Seles, who had a strong influence on Bartoli as a young player, though unlike Seles, Bartoli serves right handed. Bartoli is also known for her unusual serve, in which she uses her wrist to generate speed. Also she usually does not bounce the ball before she serves.
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Marion finished the year number 17 in the world, her record was 45-28, her best on tour so far. That compromised of 37-17 on hard courts, 4-6 on clay, 3-3 on grass and 1-2 on carpet. She was 3-6 against top 10 players.
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On top of all that, Bartoli is a perpetual motion machine. When she’s serving she bounces, kicks and stutter steps between points and when she’s receiving, it’s bounce, bounce, forehand swing, backhand swing, another stutter step and only then does she turn back to the court to receive a serve from her impatient opponent.
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Wednesday on the outer court, Bartoli, the 10th-seeded woman at the United States Open, defeated the Italian Sara Errani, 6-4, 6-2. All of Bartoli’s quirks were on display — the constant bouncing and shadow stroking between points, the double-fisted groundstrokes off both sides that echo those of the former champion Monica Seles. Her service motion, a tippy-toe delivery that would look more at home on a public parks court than on the courts of the National Tennis Center, drew smiles and quiet giggles from spectators.
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