Bartoli leaves painful past behind to dream of next slam

Marion Bartoli hopes her first Wimbledon title will not be her last after she overcame Sabine Lisicki 6-1 6-4 in a one-sided clash on Centre Court on Saturday.

The victory was remarkable given that she has been out of sorts both on and off the court this year.

The Frenchwoman, who was seeded 15th, had not progressed beyond the third round at any previous tournament before arriving in London, and in February her father Walter said he could no longer coach her, bringing to an end a roller coaster 22-year-long partnership.

Despite early promise, which stemmed from her winning the girls’ title at the US Open 12 years ago, Bartoli would be the first to admit that she had not fulfilled her potential.

But having found peace with her new coach Amelie Mauresmo, Bartoli is playing the best tennis of her career and she sees no reason why she cannot add more grand slams to her trophy cabinet.

“I am ready for the challenge,” the 28-year-old said. “One is pretty good for me. Even if I don’t get another one, I will still be very proud of it. But of course I’m going to try my hardest to get some more.

“Now that I have one, I definitely believe I can get more of them.

Lisicki’s remarkable run through to the final won her many new fans, but Bartoli is the player with the most engaging game.

She has an enigmatic personality. She fidgets between points, she jumps, she shrieks, she has lengthy conversations with herself on court, she pumps her fists and she is an intelligent and articulate woman. Whentested as a child she was told she had an IQ of 175.

There is nothing plastic about her at all. In fact, she says she is hard as wood. That much was clear on Saturday when she played the majority of the final with a huge blister under the big toe on her right foot.

That strength came from the countless hours of work she put in during the early part of her career when she practised on a run-down local tennis court in Le Puy en Velay with her father, who had no prior coaching experience, while she was young.

That was not the only tough point in Bartoli’s life. She has endured a difficult relationship at times with her father, whom she ordered off court during a match at Wimbledon two years ago.

Then after the split she spoke about how lonely she was without her father.

But even though she admitted to being down in the dumps at the time, Bartoli thinks going through hard times has made her a better person.

“I was almost a bit depressed, but somehow the wheel turned.

“Maybe it was meant to be like that, maybe I was meant to have those bad times so I could reach that high.”

That high brings with it a cheque for £1.6million, but Bartoli has no idea what she will do with it.

“I haven’t even realised that I won Wimbledon yet so I don’t know what I’ll do with the money,” she said.