Life is on the fashion-lane for Marion Bartoli. She designs shoes, clothes and bags and runs jewelry and accessories line business, part of the sale proceeds of which go to her charity work. In recent times, she has been hired by British and French television stations during Grand Slam tournaments. She lives in London where her boyfriend’s Indian mother takes out to Indian restaurants, where she avoids spicy stuff. She has also taken part in a handful of marathon-related events and has been associated with the Haute Route, a seven-day, 180 km hike from Verbier to Zermatt in Switzerland.
The 30-year-old glamour girl of French tennis and the women’s singles winner of Wimbledon 2013, Marion revealed her life’s post-tennis retirement activities at a pre-event promotional function of the 12th Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon here on Tuesday. Marion is in India after seven years as SCMM’s Event Ambassador. She has spent nearly 40 days of professional career in India.
Wearing the SCMM shirt and flashing a designer ring, Marion, who quit playing inside a month of winning her only Grand Slam on July 7, 2013, kept the media engaged for close to 45 minutes at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh. "I became a pro at the age of 16 and then I went on to play for 13 years. My body couldn't take it further as I was nursing a very bad shoulder injury. Because of the injury, I had to train more than the others. I wanted to win a grand slam and I did so. The extra toll I put on my body made me retire at the age of 29. Now I have time to explore time and for myself. It was a question of repetitive action while training," said Marion who will fly to Australia next Monday for studio work of the Australian Open that starts on January 19 at Melbourne.
A unique player because of her two-handed execution of forehand and backhand play , Marion said she could not even brush here teeth during the 2013 Wimbledon championship. "I have never been pain-free after several hours of training. When I started Wimbledon 2013, my body was starting to cry. Every morning when I woke up, I couldn't brush my teeth because of pain; my right shoulder was sore My physio had to work on my shoulder every morning. You are mentally ready to play and to take it to another high, but your body can't take it. I loved to be on the court and hit balls. I could have chosen a home tournament in early 2014 and retired, but I won the Wimbledon; that’s destiny," said Marion who said she grew up watching the legendary NBA star Michael Jordon and became a friend of France’s 1998 World Cup star Zinedine Zidane.
When asked if Serena Williams (18 Grand Slam singles titles) will go on to upstage Steffi Graf’s 22 Grand Slam singles titles, Marion said: "She seemed to have struggled during the Hopman Cup. As you go older, it gets difficult. The new generation is pushing her hard. However, when she is fit and ready to compete, she is the best in the world."
