Former French No.1 and 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has announced that she plans to mount a surprise comeback to women’s professional tennis.
The news will come as a surprise to many as the Grand Slam champion hasn’t played at the highest level of the sport for over four-and-a-half years, having retired because of a chronic back problem during Cincinnati in 2013. After chasing the Grand Slam dream for the whole of her career, she caught that dream with both hands before shockingly walking away from the sport in one of the most surprising retirement stories in modern tennis–and even in modern sport.
Many will wonder and query how much more we will see of the Wimbledon winner in her second spell on tour. Will she compete sporadically throughout the tour or will she give it a shot at playing as frequently as she can? Well, Bartoli has said that her plan is to come back for the Miami Open in March, and she also reiterated her excitement at potentially playing at Roland Garros, Fed Cup, and Wimbledon.
In her post via Instagram, Bartoli also said how “It’s going to be a huge challenge,” but it seems that is a challenge she is willing to take on after also mentioning her lofty ambitions in this return from retirement. The big objectives that Bartoli has set herself is to win the Fed Cup with her country, to compete at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, and to win another Grand Slam title. Those targets suggests that Bartoli is preparing for a long second spell, preparing to play for another two-and-a-half years at the very least.
Some questioned–after Bartoli won her one and only Grand Slam at SW19–whether it was worth continuing now that she had reached the pinnacle and climbed the top of the mountain, but Bartoli has now made it clear that she plans to achieve more and to get back where she was during 2013.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
