Former top tennis players Goran Ivanisevic and Guy Forget have urged Marion Bartoli to reconsider her shock decision to retire from the sport, saying the Wimbledon champion would regret missing out on many great moments.
The world number seven stunned the tennis world on Wednesday by calling it a day at the age of 28, six weeks after her first grand slam triumph. Bartoli shocked the tennis world on Wednesday by announcing her retirement from the sport at the age of 28.
After a second round loss to Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open, the Frenchwoman, ranked seventh in the world, walked into the media room and told stunned reporters: "I just can't do it anymore".
Her surprise announcement comes just six weeks after she beat Germany's Sabine Lisicki in the Wimbledon final to claim her one and only grand slam title.
"Well, it's never easy and obviously there is never a time to say it or whatever, but that was actually the last match of my career," said Bartoli, wiping the tears from her eyes. "It's time for me to retire and to call it a career.
"I feel it's time for me to walk away."
Bartoli had given no hint that she was considering retirement and in fact seemed focused on preparing for the North American hardcourt season and the upcoming U.S. Open.
She played last week in Toronto and was seeing her first action in Cincinnati having received a first round bye.
But a 3-6 6-4 6-1 loss to Halep looks to have been the last straw.
"It's been a tough decision to take," said Bartoli, an eight-time winner on the WTA tour.
"I've been a tennis player for a long time and I had the chance to make my biggest dream a reality.
"You know, everyone will remember my Wimbledon title. No one will remember the last match I played here. I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything."
WTA chairman and CEO Stacey Allaster paid tribute to Bartoli's "long, successful career".
"She is an inspirational champion and a great ambassador for women's tennis that has dedicated her life to the sport and given so much back to the game," she said in a statement issued in the early hours of Thursday morning. "What she did at Wimbledon was fantastic but she will regret this decision when Wimbledon comes," Ivanisevic, unable to defend his 2001 All-England title because of a shoulder injury, said in a news release issued by the Optima Open, an ATP Champions Tour event.
"There is nothing like playing at Wimbledon as 'Wimbledon champion'," added the big-serving Croat, who retired from the sport in 2004 after losing to Australian Lleyton Hewitt in the third round of the grasscourt grand slam on Center Court.
Former men's world number four Forget said the decision announced after a second-round defeat by Romanian Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open in Cincinnati sounded too hasty.
"Marion is a very smart girl, she is so dedicated about the sport that I'm always very cautious about someone's quote right after a defeat," the former French number one said.
"I hope she is going to change her mind. You don't want to have regrets looking back. Being a professional player is such an exceptional job and you don't want to look back a few months or years later and think 'why did I stop?'."
'DON'T QUIT'
He advised Bartoli to simply take a break rather than pack up her rackets for good.
"Don't rush it, just don't rush it," he said.
"Take time, go to the beach for a few days, go running in the park, just get your head together ... if you don't want to play the next week, just don't play it, if you want to miss the U.S. Open, fine, but just don't quit.
"Don't take such a radical decision only a few weeks after winning the biggest tournament in the world."
French tennis federation president Jean Gachassin, who was not aware of Bartoli's decision before she made it public, said he had not lost hope of persuading her to reverse her decision.
"Some champions have come back like (Kim) Clijsters or (Justine) Henin and I hope I will make Marion change her mind in the coming months," he told French broadcaster L'Equipe 21.
Former world number one Clijsters won the U.S. Open twice in 2009 and 2010 and the 2011 Australian Open when she returned to the sport after retiring.
(Reuters Quotes)
