Bartoli's retirement makes us wish we had appreciated her earlier

For die-hard tennis fans, the retirement of a top player almost seems like losing a friend. With some, like in the case of Jimmy Connors or Martina Navratilova or Roger Federer (whenever that day does come), the fans have had time to prepare for the end… knowing very much that they kept us company as long as they could. In the case of others, like Robin Soderling, Elena Dementieva, Jennifer Capriati, Mary Pierce and now Marion Bartoli, their departures were all too sudden — not giving us enough time to say goodbye or prepare ourselves; wishing we had spent more time watching them, appreciating them. Until a few years ago, Bartoli was considered a pariah in the sport. Her on-court quirks, the jumping hopping air-swinging routine, hair whipping face while racket whipped the ball routine, and the close bond she shared with her father — gave the impression of an eccentric to most. Marion was radically different from the prototype of the conventional female tennis player that has emerged over the past couple of decades. [caption id=“attachment_1036027” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] For Bartoli, success came late and so did acceptance. AP[/caption] Not conventionally good looking and not making the slightest attempt to be; Bartoli didn’t boast of an athlete’s body but made all attempts to be the best she could be. There have been radically different players in the game before. Monica Seles, whose game Bartoli copied as a youngster, was all-grunt and no-grace while Rafael Nadal’s on-court quirks (arranging his bottles before a match and arranging his derriere during the match) might rival those of the Frenchwoman. But Seles and Nadal were champions soon after arriving on the scene, which made their quirks that much more acceptable. For Bartoli, success came late and so did acceptance. A run to the Wimbledon finals in 2007 seemed like a fluke. But when she did win Wimbledon this July at the age of 28, she became the darling of the tennis world. It’ a pity that it took for her to do something as special as win Wimbledon for the world at large to notice just how special she was. And that is what makes her sudden exit, just six weeks after that Wimbledon breakthrough, all the more sad. Bartoli’s reasons for quitting are understandable, “My body was really starting to fall apart and I was able to keep it together, go through the pain — with a lot of pain — throughout this Wimbledon and make it happen. That was probably the last little bit of something that was left inside me. I’ve been playing for a long, long, long time, and it’s time for me now. It is. I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play. I’ve been doing this for so long. And yeah, it’s just body-wise, I can’t do it anymore." For Bartoli, winning a grand slam was the ultimate goal. She was never supposed to be world No 1 or a multiple grand slam champion. And now having achieved that goal, she’s ready to move on to the next chapter in her life. “You know, everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No one will remember the last match I played here. It’s been a tough decision to take. I don’t take this easily. I mean, I’ve been a tennis player for a long time and I had a chance to make my biggest dream a reality. I felt I really, really pushed through the ultimate limits to make it happen,” she quipped. When she’s had time to sit back and reflect on her life to this point and her life ahead, Bartoli will think of new dreams. They may be related to tennis; they may not. It shouldn’t come as a surprise if she does decide to come back to the game. We’ve seen that far too often in the past when players call it a day in their mid-to-late 20s (read Kim Clijsters, Martina Hingis, Justine Henin) to rule it out. Until then, let’s learn to appreciate the players while we have the chance to; and not box them into stereotypes and then complain about the lack of personalities in the game. As Erik Gudris, another tennis writer, best summed it up, “Like many parts of her career, this makes no sense and total sense at the same time. But I wish her the best.”