LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Marion Bartoli: Grand Slam
built 639 days ago
Marion began 2007 with another 2nd round exit at the Australian Open, this time falling to Victoria Azarenka in straight sets. Her best result on hard courts was reaching the last 16 of Indian Wells but Bartoli began to find her form during the claycourt season, which had previously not been a successful surface for her. She reached the final of the ECM Prague Open in May, losing to Akiko Morigami. Bartoli was hindered by a hip injury during the latter stages of the Prague tournament and withdrew from the Rome Masters as a result. After a semifinal run in Strasbourg was ended by Amélie Mauresmo, Marion reached her first career Grand Slam fourth round at the French Open, defeating Elena Dementieva in the third round. She was knocked out by the player at the top of the Race (the calendar year rankings) Jelena Janković 6-1, 6-1.
Source:
FROM WIMBLEDON – The sight of Pierce Brosnan almost wrecked Marion Bartoli's chances in her first Grand Slam semifinal. The former James Bond is the 22-year-old Frenchwoman's favourite actor, and seeing him in the front row of the Royal Box on her first appearance on Wimbledon's hallowed Centre Court just about undid Bartoli's game. But for the third match running, she recovered from losing the first set to post the biggest shock of these Wimbledon championships and one of the biggest upsets in years.
Source:
The French woman, Bartoli is ranked 19 in the world and has achieved a career high ranking of 17 in November 2006. She has had an unremarkable grand slam career up until now. The US Open had been her most consistant tournament following three third round appearances. This year she has had her best ever results. A fourth round showing at the French Open showed she is making progress.
Source:
Bartoli is an unlikely looking Grand Slam finalist, and has a fair bit of controversy on her resumé. She looks to be carrying too much weight for a top-level tennis player, but glides around the court with deceptive speed, making light of the limited reach that hitting with two hands off both wings involves. Her long black hair falls loosely out of the back of her cap, giving her something of the air of a gipsy. And to settle her nerves between points she practises her racket-head speed in a way that makes her look as if she is swatting a fly.
Source:
Bartoli, the underdog so beloved of the British, did not want for inspiration last night. A set down inside 22 minutes, her eye wandered over the grandstands and picked out Pierce Brosnan, one of her favourite actors. Strange, what a friendly face can do. One moment she was set to be consigned as a statistical footnote in record time; the next she was engineering an escape of which James Bond would have been proud.
Source:
Still, Bartoli hadn't won a tournament this year and had never gone past the fourth round of a Grand Slam event in her unspectacular career. The only hint that she might have success here was that in each of her previous five tournaments before Wimbledon, she won at least three matches, beating players like Daniela Hantuchova and Elena Dementieva.
Source:
MORE ABOUT
Grand Slam