Foot Fault!

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Category Archives: Marion Bartoli

The Emancipation Of Mari-ri

2 Comments Posted by on February 11, 2013

As the moon likely turned a curious shade of blue and hell surely froze over, yesterday Marion Bartoli dropped a bombshell the size of faraway planets by announcing that she would be splitting from her father immediately and finally working alongside the FFT, with the hope of finally taking that step from the bottom echelons of the top ten into the top five and beyond.

“My dad will not be with me in Doha. Much has been discussed together. It is a joint decision, there is no argument, it is just the result of long reflection. It happened little by little, my father has always wanted the best for me and he told me that it might be better if I try something else to get what I want, a Grand Slam victory.

“I (speak to him) every day on the phone, there is no problem, I tell him what I do, we are always connected.

“For me the ideal would be to be with someone to help me win a Grand Slam and I think Amelie can. But it is to her you must ask the question, I cannot answer for her.

It will be fascinating to see how Marion reacts to this new, unfamiliar situation. Some of the scalps she has snatched in her career are victories all but the two most successful players above her could only dream about, and at her most dangerous she can stand to toe with any player. Despite that, there has always appeared to be a glass ceiling on her career, one that has evaded the likes of Stosur, Li and other players who have risen from below her to the top of the pecking order.

The question on most lips has forever been whether the success she has achieved in her career is because of her father’s…eccentric methods or in spite of them. As she endeavours to assemble a team complete with (yes) a fitness trainer, coach and others all working together for her benefit, we will soon find out.

Marion Bartoli, WTA off-court

Marion Bartoli Discusses Her Exclusion From London Olympics

1 Comment Posted by on January 19, 2012

After spending the last couple of months appealing to the powers-that-be for a reprieve to the FFT’s ruiling that Bartoli would not be participating in the Olympics, it appears that Marion Bartoli finally all but admitted defeat while addressing the issue after yesterdays victory over Jelena Dokic.

“It’s really heartbreaking for me. Honestly I really do feel I have a chance to make a medal over there and especially at Wimbledon, on grass, where I had so much success in the past, and can’t go there just for some stupid reason [...]”

The “stupid reason” Marion is referring to, is one that requires teammates to train together as a (*gasp*) team during the week of the tie. Rather than training with the team, Bartoli has always requested for the rules to be changed in order to allow her father coach her during Fed Cup weeks.

This issue is also one that has actually been previously visited. Back in 2002, then-Fed Cup Captain Billie Jean King made the decision to exclude Jennifer Capriati – her number one player – after she was caught receiving illegal coaching from her notorious father on the evening before the first match.

Capriati learnt her lesson however, and she didn’t ever attempt to challenge the rules afterwards. On the other hand, four years after facing her first Olympic snub in Beijing, Marion is still complaining and refusing to comply with the rules. If she really wanted to represent her country at the Olympic games, then she only has herself to blame.

Dramz, London Olympics, Marion Bartoli, Quotable Quotes

Marion Bartoli Double Bagels Gajdosova, Feels Bad About It

Leave a Comment Posted by on January 3, 2012

Despite putting in a stunning performance and achieving the seemingly impossible feat of fitting 12 aces (2 per game), 25 winners and only 5 unforced errors into a 50 minute match, Marion Bartoli also had room to feel compassion and sympathy for inflicting suck humiliation to her opponent on her home turf.

“Today I played really well, Jarka, is definitely an up and rising player and is so talented and I’m sorry I beat her that way buy I was just focusing on my own game and not really looking at the scoreboard,” Bartoli said.

“She’s a lovely girl and when I saw her in tears it was really heartbreaking but I can’t really miss a shot just for (the sake of) missing a shot so it was really hard to see her like that. But I’m sure she will bounce back, she’s an extremely talented player and I’m sure she has a great future in front of her.”

Hopefully Jarmila can comfort herself in the fact that other players have already been humiliated even worse than her this week in Perth. For example;

Australian Series, Marion Bartoli

What To Take From Serena Williams’ Stanford Victory

2 Comments Posted by on August 1, 2011

Serena Williams announced her comeback yesterday by clinching the first title of her comeback and first summer US hardcourt title in ten years, defeating Marion Bartoli 7-5 6-1 in the final.

1) She’s back, baby
Starting with the painfully obvious – yes, she is back. It’s pretty amazing actually. After a 49 week layoff with two foot surgeries and a near-fatal health problem, in her third tournament back she dusts aside three of the standout players of the last couple of months in straight sets. This may sound a touch melodramatic, but I almost feel like this makes her even more feared than back when she won Wimbledon last year. I mean, she completely trashed Sharapova and Lisicki before eventually beating Bartoli easily, yet there is still so much room for improvement.

2) Still so much room to improve
For her, the fact that she is beating all of these great players yet still has so much room to improve is brilliant. Even now, you can see she’s still quite unsure about certain aspects of her game, and still having to almost re-learn them after so long out. Particularly her timing, footing and general feeling around the ball has been off since the comeback, with her being forced to dramatically improvise her strokes on some of the most seemingly routine balls.

3) Serena’s patience – looking to the future
Serena’s patience this week was also notable. Over the years, so much has been said about her power and athleticism. It’s as if people see the big muscles and are immediately compelled to wax lyrical about how much bigger and stronger she is than the rest. What often goes unnoticed is the fact that both today and long before (as the story goes) the rest of the tour raced to the gym in a futile attempt to “catch up” with Serena and her sister, one thing that has set Serena apart is her ability to construct points before using her strength to finish the point. And with her turning thirty and losing some of the natural athleticism and explosiveness of old, this patience has become far more central to her game. Her last three scorelines were easy, but they were no 07 Australian Open final. Instead, she alternated between keeping the ball at a great length, using angles to drag her opponents off-court, before crushing anything that was, well, crushable. And that is ultimately what could help her to prolong her career for years more.

With this win, Serena’s name will undoubtedly fly to the very top of the US Open bookies’ favourites list. But there’s still a long way to go in this US hardcourt season, and after a period of such steep and dramatic decline on the WTA, we’re entering into quite an interesting period ahead of the US Open. It will be fascinating to see who else stands up and commands attention as we edge closer to the final slam of the year.

Because, in every sense of the word, it really could be anyone.

Marion Bartoli, Serena Williams, Stanford, US Open

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