'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAGAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFQABAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABgf/2gAIAQEAAAAAOyv/xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/9oACAECEAAAAA//xAAUAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAE/9oACAEDEAAAAE//xAAfEAABBAICAwAAAAAAAAAAAAABAgMEEgUGABEhQnL/2gAIAQEAAT8A1GJo+V1bHuRtfdYyIaJLxqa0FHfvu3sOT9YxzM6S1HkyyyhxSUFaU2KQfHfP/8QAFhEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQAS/9oACAECAQE/ABdX/8QAFhEBAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAgEA/9oACAEDAQE/ACZTv//Z'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
There’s more to Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli than her on-court theatrics and her two-handed groundstrokes. Here are ten little-known facts about the 2013 Wimbledon ladies singles champion.
1) Bartoli was inspired by Monica Seles to use two hands on her forehand after watching Seles beat Steffi Graf 10-8 in the third set in their classic 1992 French Open final.
The next day, seven-year-old Marion began mimicking Seles by hitting two-handed ground strokes off both flanks. “Right away, it was a revelation. I was already well on the way with a two-handed backhand. It was the forehand I needed to get right. I was really not at all talented with one hand.”
2) Unlike many other juniors, Marion never trained at a private academy or at the French training centre. She trained at home with her father, where training conditions were sub-standard. In the winter, the asphalt-covered court she used in an indoor bubble had no heat and developed patches of ice because of leaks in the overhead cover.
3) Her father, Walter Bartoli, was a doctor but gave up his profession to coach his daughter. Walter developed his own eccentric training methods such as attaching Marion to fences with stretch bands, hitting astonishing rapid-fire forehand drills and putting tennis balls on the heels of her shoes to make sure she remains on her toes.
4) Bartoli plays with the Prince EXO 3 Warrior racquet. She had previously used the Prince EXO3 Black and the Prince O3 Red. All her Prince racquets are modified in New York to make them longer by 2.0 inches (to 29 inches) than standard racquets to give her better reach with her two-handed strokes.
5) In February 2004, Bartoli played at the 2004 Hyderabad Open, where she defeated Ankita Bhambri, Galina Fokina, and Mervana Jugic-Salkic to reach the semi-finals, before losing to eventual champion Nicole Pratt.
In 2005, she reached the third round of the US Open and lost to India’s Sania Mirza.
6) Bartoli reached the finals of Wimbledon in 2007 after a stunning upset over top-seeded Justine Henin in the semi-final and lost to Venus Williams in the final. Bartoli claimed that she was inspired by actor Pierce Brosnan in the stands during her semi-final win.
“I didn’t start well. It was so stressful being on Centre Court for the first time. But then I saw Pierce Brosnan in the crowd and he’s one of my favourite actors so I just tried to play a little better. I tried to just forget who I was playing and where I was playing and I started to play very good at the end of the second set and in the third set.”
7) Bartoli did not agree with French Tennis Federation rules that players need to practice with the team coach and other team members and insisted on having her dad around even during Fed Cup practice. As a result, the French Tennis Federation did not select her to represent France in the Fed Cup, which also cost her the chance to play in the London Olympic Games in 2012.
8) Bartoli took a 30-minute nap just before her semi-final against Kirsten Flipkens on Thursday. She became the first player to win Wimbledon without meeting a top 10 player.
This was her 47th Grand Slam event – the most Grand Slam appearances by any player before winning their first Grand Slam (Jana Novotna 45, Francesca Schiavone 39, Samantha Stosur 34, Amelie Maruesmo 32)
9) Bartoli claims that she has an IQ of 175, which is higher than published numbers of famous people, such as Plato (170), Beethoven (165), Albert Einstein, Bill Gates and Stephen Hawking (160), the same as philosopher Immanuel Kant, but below that of chess players Gary Kasparov (190) and Bobby Fisher (187).
In an interview, Bartoli commented, “I did a test when I was younger, but I’m not really someone that is really telling everyone, ‘Oh, I’m so smart.’ I’m kind of hiding it. But that’s how I am, you know. It just comes naturally. That’s how I was born with.”
10) Bartoli will climb to no. 7 in the world rankings next week tying her previous career-high. Only one WTA player has been in the top 20 every single week during the last six years and that is Bartoli.
