From Wimbledon glory to abuse: the extraordinary story of Marion Bartoli

Marion Bartoli was once one of the best tennis players in the world, but her story was not without setbacks. What happened to her?

Bartoli was born on 2 October 1984 in Le Puy-en-Velay, but has Corsican roots.

She started playing tennis when she was six, under the guidance of her father, Walter, per Eurosport.

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According to CNN, she became a pro in 2000 and would start working her way up the ranking.

In 2001, she made her Grand Slam debut thanks to a wildcard for the French Open, where she lost in the first round to Catalina Castaño.

Bartoli had to wait until 2006, however, to win her first WTA title. At the Auckland Open in New Zealand, the then 21-year-old beat Vera Zvonareva in the final. In October of the same year, she added a second WTA title to her tally at the Japan Open.

Her good results allowed Bartoli to break into the top 20 for the first time in her career and finish the year world No. 17, per WTA Tennis.

The following year, Bartoli made her Grand Slam breakthrough by reaching the Wimbledon final after beating Justine Henin in the semi-finals. In the final, however, Venus Williams proved too strong. Bartoli finished the year world No. 10, her highest ranking ever at the time.

After reaching the quarter-finals of the 2009 Australian Open, Bartoli reached the semi-finals of the French Open and the quarter-finals of Wimbledon in 2011. Although she already had several WTA titles under her belt, she was still chasing that big Grand Slam win.

2013 would bring redemption for Bartoli, who reached a Grand Slam final for the second time in her career at that year's Wimbledon.

Her opponent was German Sabine Lisicki, but this time she would not let the title slip away from her.

Bartoli beat Lisicki in straight sets to win the Wimbledon title without losing a single set. A remarkable feat.

It was the undisputed highlight of Bartoli's career, who announced her retirement from professional tennis just 40 days later.

At a press conference, she explained her decision. "I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything," she said.

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Bartoli retired after a successful career, with eight singles titles and three doubles titles to her name, and a career-high ranking of world No. 7, according to WTA Tennis.

In 2015, Bartoli had a bad experience with a toxic boyfriend that pushed her to lose a lot of weight, as reported by The New York Times.

"But I did it because he was just, every single day, telling me I was too heavy and too fat and whatever and whatever. So I started a diet that just never ends, basically," she told the newspaper.

At the time, Bartoli was working for television as a commentator and appeared as an interviewer at the French Open, but a new setback would soon follow.

In 2016, a much skinnier Bartoli made headlines and scared tennis fans around the world when she told Paris Match that she had caught a virus that prevented her from eating.

"I have a virus that my body is fighting. That’s why I am not able to eat anything. I’m going to have to go to a clinic in Italy at the end of Wimbledon," she told Paris Match in an interview. Bartoli was to play in a Wimbledon exhibition event, but did not participate in the end.

Bartoli was even fearing for her life at the time, she revealed on ITV’s 'This Morning'. "Maybe my heart will stop. Going through all this is difficult," she said.

Bartoli was hospitalised, but slowly recovered. "I'm on the road to recovery. I'm recovering slowly," she told French radio station RTL. Bartoli suffered from the H1N1 virus, she revealed to The Times.

After a full recovery, Bartoli caught the tennis bug again and attempted a comeback in early 2018, but those plans came to an end in June that same year due to injury problems.

Towards the end of 2019, Bartoli tried her hand at coaching, helping Jelena Ostapenko achieve her goals. Their partnership was ended during the COVID-19 pandemic suspension of the WTA Tour.

At the time, Bartoli and her husband Yahya Boumediene were expecting their first child, a daughter, Kamilya. After giving birth, Bartoli resumed her coaching activities and started working with Ostapenko again.

Bartoli is not only passionate about tennis, but also about fashion. In 2016, she designed a collection with sports brand FILA named 'Love FILA'.

Bartoli now resides in Dubai, where she was planning on opening a tennis academy, as reported by Gulf News in 2021.

Today, she still works as a television tennis commentator, while enjoying her family life after a successful playing career.

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