Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli (French: [maʁjɔ̃ baʁtɔli]; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title, after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also won seven singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour.

Bartoli was known for her unorthodox style of play, using both hands on her forehand and backhand. On 30 January 2012, she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7; she returned to this ranking on 8 July 2013, after triumphing at Wimbledon. Bartoli reached the quarterfinals at each of the four majors. Her win at Wimbledon made her only the sixth player in the Open Era to win the title without losing a set. She is also one of only three players to have played at both the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tournament of Champions (later renamed the WTA Elite Trophy) in the same year (2011); the other two being Kiki Bertens and Sofia Kenin.

Marion Bartoli was born on 2 October 1984 in Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire. She is of Corsican descent; her family is from Palneca, Corse-du-Sud.

Bartoli was introduced to tennis by her father, Walter, when she was six years old and often trained on small, icy courts or in cramped indoor spaces, shaping her aggressive style. Her father used creative drills to improve her coordination and kept her agile. She traveled to tournaments with him, doing homework on the road.

In December 2019, Bartoli married Belgian football player Yahya Boumediene. Their daughter was born a year later.

Bartoli started entering tournaments regularly at the age of 16. After a few aborted starts in 1999 and 2000, she played in the $10,000 clay events in the spring of 2001. Winning two tournaments back to back in May (in Hatfield and Torino) ensured that she would be given a wildcard into her first Grand Slam, the French Open, where she lost to Catalina Castaño in the first round. Bartoli also won another tournament in Koksijde, Belgium.

In 2002, she received a wildcard into the Australian Open. She lost to Tina Pisnik in three sets. She then won her fourth ITF title in Columbus, Ohio. She followed that with a first-round exit at the French Open, losing in three sets to Ai Sugiyama. In the US Open where she qualified, she defeated Arantxa Sánchez Vicario, which was Bartoli's first win over a player in the top 100. She followed that with a win over Rossana de los Ríos, before losing to fourth seed Lindsay Davenport.

Bartoli began 2003 by coming through the qualifying draw in the Canberra International to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone. At the Australian Open where she earned her place in a major through her ranking for the first time, she lost to 11th seed Magdalena Maleeva in the first round. She qualified for Key Biscayne and made it to the quarterfinals, after Lindsay Davenport retired in their fourth-round match due to injury. In the quarterfinal, she lost to Serena Williams.