Bartoli Affirms She Has Retired

Written by: Bob Larson Tennis on 2nd December 2013

Bartoli Affirms She Has Retired

epa03777979 Marion Bartoli of France celebrates a winner against Sabine Lisicki of Germany during the women's final for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis Club, in London, Britain, 06 July 2013. EPA/KERIM OKTEN |

Retired Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli insisted ongoing speculation on whether she would return to competitive tennis in time to defend her title next June is just a waste of time.

She is aware the likes of Martina Hingis, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters and Lindsay Davenport all had second thoughts about retirement and returned to the ranks of the WTA but the 29 year-old Frenchwoman will not join them.

Earlier this month she joined the likes of Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg on millionaire Sir Richard Branson’s Caribbean island for the hit and giggle Necker Cup and in September she played just one game in the All England Club’s traditional Close the Grass tournament before maintaining her back was too painful to continue.

“I will not come back,” Bartoli insisted in an interview with CNN’s Open Court that will be aired shortly.

In August it appeared as though she was about to change her mind on ending her career just a fortnight after her Wimbledon triumph but another couple of months of introspection have convinced her she made the right decision.

“I had some really deep scars that were wide open,” she said. “But I covered them and made sure no one could see them when I was playing.

“Now I can say I have passed every single test, and I became the happiest person in the world.”

Bartoli insists she will only be at Wimbledon in a watching capacity next year, as the guest of All England Club chairman Philip Brook. But it remains doubtful whether the BBC’s John Inverdale, widely criticized for being so rude about the champion’s appearance, will keep his job.

BBC veteran Inverdale committed a massive error with his crass remarks on Radio 5 Live in the build-up to the women’s final, when he said of Bartoli that she was ‘never going to be a looker, so had to compensate for that’.

The fall-out included the British Government’s Culture Secretary Maria Miller writing to BBC director-general Lord Hall asking for an update on any action likely to be taken against Inverdale.

He was considered fortunate to keep his BBC positions despite making a full apology to Bartoli. Hall called Inverdale’s comments ‘totally unacceptable’ and said they ‘fell well below the standards we expect of presenters’.

Now it seems Inverdale, who still works on other sports for the BBC including rugby and golf, is finally going to be disciplined by missing out on next year’s Wimbledon.

A BBC spokesperson said: “John is certainly part of BBC Sport’s team for a very busy summer. Our final plans for 2014 will be announced in due course.”

Topics: 10sballs, Boris Becker, Justine Henin, Kim Clijsters, Lindsay Davenport, Marion Bartoli, Martina Hingis, Rafael Nadal, Sports, Tennis, Tennis News, Wimbledon, Wta

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markalannixon says:

December 2, 2013 at 10:28 am

Bartoli Affirms She Has Retired in an upcoming episode of CNN’s “Open Court” to air shortly http://t.co/cjYQyaDPji
shirobosiouji says:

December 3, 2013 at 3:10 am

RT @KimClijstersPro: Bartoli Affirms She Has Retired http://t.co/eAfs3CtZIw
cnnopencourt says:

December 3, 2013 at 5:43 am

RT @markalannixon: Bartoli Affirms She Has Retired in an upcoming episode of CNN’s “Open Court” to air shortly http://t.co/cjYQyaDPji