Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli (born October 2, 1984) is a French professional tennis player and the current French No. 1. She has won five Women's Tennis Association singles titles and three doubles titles. She was also a runner-up at the 2007 Wimbledon Championships.

Bartoli has defeated two reigning World No.1 players in her career so far. She defeated Justine Henin in the semi-final of the 2007 Wimbledon Championships 1–6, 7–5, 6–1 and she defeated Jelena Janković in the fourth round of the 2009 Australian Open 6–1, 6–4. She has also recorded wins over former World No. 1 Venus Williams, Ana Ivanović, Lindsay Davenport, Arantxa Sánchez Vicario and Dinara Safina as well as many top 5 and top 10 players.

She is known for being one of only a handful of players in the Top 100 on the WTA Tour who play holding the racquet with two hands on both sides. The other players being Peng Shuai, Lucie Hradecká, Arantxa Parra Santonja, Ayumi Morita and Monica Niculescu.

Bartoli will kick off her 2011 season on January 2 with an appearance at the 2011 Brisbane International. She was seeded 4th and defeated American qualifier Vania King in the first round 6–1, 6–2. She then defeated Czech player Iveta Benešová 6–1, 3–6, 6–0 to book a place in the quarterfinals where she defeated another Czech player Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová 6–2, 6–1. In the semifinals she was defeated by Andrea Petkovic 6–4, 6–2 despite being up a double break 4–1 in the first set.

Bartoli will be top seeded at the 2011 Moorilla Hobart International in her first appearance at the tournament. A tough test was expected in the first round as she had drawn former World No.1 Dinara Safina in the first round, however, Bartoli won easily 6–0, 6–1. She defeated Elena Vesnina in the next round 6–4, 6–1 before losing to 5th seed Klára Zakopalová in the quarterfinals 6–4, 6–2.

Bartoli will be seeded 15th at the 2011 Australian Open Grand Slam tournament and she played Tathiana Garbin in the first round and won with a double bagel, 6–0, 6–0. She was defeated by Vesna Manasieva is the second round 3–6, 6–3, 6–0 after tearing her right calf muscle at 5–1 in the first set.
Bartoli is expected to be away from the tour for 4–6 weeks to recover from her injury.

stats
Country : France
Residence : Geneva, Switzerland
Date of birth : October 2, 1984 (1984-10-02)
Place of birth Le Puy-en-Velay, Auvergne, France
Height : 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro : February 2000
Plays : Right-handed (two-handed both sides)