Bartoli Back

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By Scoop Malinowski

Marion Bartoli has announced she will return to professional tennis in 2018.

The Wimbledon champion of 2013 abruptly left the sport later that summer in August under a haze of curiosity as just shortly before the sudden retirement announcement, Bartoli was quoted saying she was really looking forward to playing hard courts in the US.

At an emotional press conference at the Cincinnati Open, just 40 days after her Wimbledon victory, Bartoli said “I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can’t cope with everything. I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play.”

After stopping her career, Bartoli, 33, worked as a TV commentator. Her weight fluctuated to the extreme, appearing well over her playing weight at the 2014 US Open and then a year later suddenly looking rail thin like a model or marathon runner.

She ran and finished the 2016 New York City Marathon in five hours and forty minutes (Nov. 2016).

Bartoli, who won seven WTA singles titles and achieved a world no. 3 ranking, said in July of 2016 she suffered from some kind of virus but now she has regained her health and expects to be fit for competition by March for the Miami Open.

I have had a couple of interactions with Marion over the years. We did a Biofile at the US Open a few years before she won Wimbledon. And two years ago I commented to Marion at the Miami Open media cafeteria that she looks ready for a comeback and she smiled and gave me a silent shoosh gesture with her finger over her mouth.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

BArtoli was a great player who could steamroll top players. She's refreshed and hungry and eager to battle. She could be dangerous and she actually could do very well. I would not write off Bartoli.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Of course Bartoli was no Seles but she got to No. 3 in the world and won the biggest tournament on earth. That equals "great player." Any one who wins Wimbledon is a great player.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine, she won a major playing with two hands on both sides. Extremely rare. First player to win Wimbledon with two hands on both sides. Like i said, GREAT PLAYER. I would guess her dad Walter is still her coach. Like to see her hire Santoro.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Safarova is one of those dark horse players who has been close tow winning a singles major or has played life and death in a major with an opponent who went on to win the major, so Safarova is a player who should be taken seriously and keep an eye on because she is long overdue to win a major or reach a final of a major.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Raonic is being silly to start demanding the season be shorted. If he wants to be on the court less why not play serve and volley? To take three mnths off is silly because the player would get out of shape and then more likely to get injured early in the new year. And I'm sure there would be big $ exos and these players who complain about the season being too long would surely sign up to play these big $ exos.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Doubt any player will follow Nick's example as a professional unless he gets to no. 1. If he keeps stagnating and underachieving he will be considered one of those oddball freak talents. Million dollar skillset with a ten cent head.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Michael; Thank you and same for you. Bartoli is a nice person who busts her butt 110 percent every point and people like to see that kind of maximum effort. I've always liked her too.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

The WTA ethos is more like, Hey, I won a major. I won a major? Wow. I won a major. One major feels like five majors under Serena's guard.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Andrew; Serena's ghost was on Tour all year! When the cat is away the mice will play

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

I think all the players are afraid to beat Serena. Fear of success. Like it's a crime or something to beat Serena or upset her. Serena is bigger than the WTA right now it seems. Not one single player has the courage to call out Serena and trash talk her, like Djokovic did to Federer. They all show her too much respect. I wish a player would come along and not have that over-respect for Serena. But I don't see that happening. If someone dares to do it, it would almost be like a borderline crime in a sense. The media would gang up on this player and disturb her career. Much like how the players and media ganged up on Seles for her grunting that one year at Wimbledon. Certain players are protected.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Nadal sporting reallys hort shorts, like the 70s era short shorts of Borg and McEnroe and Connors. Never thought that style would return.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

No idea how Kerber is still trending so heavily on this site in late December but one thing is for sure, the big hungry cat is about to come back, so the mice know they ain't gonna get jack

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Kerber, Sloane, Muguruza, Kvitova, Halep all are multi millionaires. If you win a few big events you are gonna be super rich. I could see how most players lose some fire once they make the big money. Kuznetsova, Radwanska, Wozniacki, etc. Maria and Venus and Serena are the three freaks who want to keep adding to their trophy case and bank accounts. Wonder who will be the next WTA freak to join Maria and the W sisters?

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Kerber and Kuznetsova have had similar careers. Extraordinary results and then long stretches of ordinary results. Where Kerber goes from 2017 is an intrigue, one of many intrigues on the WTA Tour. Kerber is a decent attraction but she does not generate any extra buzz and excitement and she certainly does not transcend the sport. I think the WTA bosses and tennis powers that be would prefer a WTA no. 1 that generates extra buzz and that transcends the sport like Maria, Venus and Serena. It's all about $$$ and I think we can all agree Kerber's limited star power does not transmute into gigantic revenues and TV ratings and attracting new major sponsors, like Serena, Maria, Graf, Capriati, Sabatini, Kournikova, Agassi, Sampras, Federer, Nadal, Borg, McEnroe, etc. I would not be surprised if Kerber senses this ambivalence and it effected her 2017 performance.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine, I can't remember a world no. 1 dropping so far in one year. Kerber's drop from 1-21 in one year might be the biggest drop from no. 1 ever. Have to research that.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

1-21 in one year is a huge drop, maybe the biggest drop. Rios earned a $5m bonus for winning the Miami final vs Agassi to become no. 1 on top of his prize money he got $2.5m from both Nike and Yonex as bonuses for becoming no. 1. Wawrinka also got a huge bonus from Yonex when he was his first major in Australian in 2014. Imagine Sloane also got a hefty bonus from her racquet sponsor and Under Armor too, on top of the $4m prize money or whatever it was. These players hit the lottery when they win big so you can imagine there being a drop in desire, even that fraction drop is going to result in lesser results. I think Kerber hit her lottery and lost an edge.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Catherine, Fed, Rafa, Maria, Serena are freaks.

 

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Scoop Malinowski writes:

Jack Kramer tried that with his pro tours. Successful for a while but the game changed. For the better.