Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli says tennis kept her 'alive'
Marion Bartoli, 2013 Wimbledon Champion, announced that she will be coming out of retirement to participate in the WTA tour. The 33-year-old, who recently recovered from a mystery illness, said that "by hanging on to the great moments she lived on court, tennis saved her and kept her alive during the illness." Bartoli aims to be ready for the 2018 Miami Open in March.
Marion Bartoli, player profile
In her career, Marion Bartoli won a total of eight WTA titles and reached a career high world ranking of number 7 in 2012. Her finest moment was winning the 2013 Wimbledon beating Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the final. Bartoli won the maiden and her lone major at 28 years of age, in her 47th Grand Slam appearance, the longest wait in women's tennis.
Retirement due to injury
While Wimbledon is the only big tournament she won, Bartoli is no one-time wonder. The French national had reached five major quarterfinals, which includes her run to Wimbledon final in 2007 which she lost to Venus Williams, and the semis of 2011 French Open. Owing to recurring injury problems, Bartoli bowed out of tennis in August 2013, months after her Wimbledon victory.
Battling unknown illness
In 2016, Bartoli suffered from a mystery virus which led to loss of 20 kg in weight. The illness was so rare that medical experts had no name for it. This caused her to pull out of an exhibition event at Wimbledon last year.
Illness a reason to be back on court
Bartoli said, "If what happened to me in 2016 (illness) hadn't happened, I don't think I would have had the strong feeling of wanting to come back to the court." "(After pulling out of Wimbledon exhibition event)..I swore that if one day I was healthy again, I wanted to try to relive what I had been luck enough to live three years before (2013)."
Age not a factor
Citing the example of Serena (36) and Venus Williams (37), who continue to play and win tournaments past their prime, Bartoli says, "I think at 33 you can perform on tennis court for quite some time."
Instances of other players who came out of retirement
This isn't the first occurrence of a comeback from retirement. Some examples include the likes of Kim Clijsters, Justine Henin, and Martina Hingis. Clijsters, in fact, won back-to-back US Open titles (2009, 2010), and an Australian Open (2011), coming back to tennis after two years in retirement (2007-2009). Hingis, on the other hand, saw lot of success playing doubles after returning from retirement.
