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The name's Bartoli – Marion Bartoli

Gasquet continues French attack by upsetting Roddick

By Chris Bowers, Special to TennisReporters.net

Cynthia Lum/WireImage.com

In one of the biggest upsets in years Marion Bartoli bounces Justine Henin from the Wimbledon semis.

FROM WIMBLEDON – The sight of Pierce Brosnan almost wrecked Marion Bartoli's chances in her first Grand Slam semifinal. The former James Bond is the 22-year-old Frenchwoman's favourite actor, and seeing him in the front row of the Royal Box on her first appearance on Wimbledon's hallowed Centre Court just about undid Bartoli's game. But for the third match running, she recovered from losing the first set to post the biggest shock of these Wimbledon championships and one of the biggest upsets in years.

The record books will record that Bartoli, a player never hitherto beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam, beat the No. 1 and hot favourite Justine Henin 1-6, 7-5, 6-1. What it doesn't reveal is how shaken and stirred the top seed was after cruising through the first set and suggesting to all the tennis world that this year's Wimbledon women's final would be Henin against Venus Williams. "At times I just didn't know what to do," a magnanimous Henin said after her shock defeat.

As she left the court to be ambushed by an interviewer from British television, Bartoli winked into the camera and said, "You brought me luck, Pierce, I hope you can be here tomorrow!" Unfortunately for her, the Irish actor's schedule has him at a wedding so he won't be able to fulfill his new role as lucky mascot to tennis's latest rising star. But. if Bartoli can tap in to the rich vein of form that saw her crush the best player in the world, a fourth title for the elder Williams is by no means assured.

Bartoli is an unlikely looking Grand Slam finalist, and has a fair bit of controversy on her resumé. She looks to be carrying too much weight for a top-level tennis player, but glides around the court with deceptive speed, making light of the limited reach that hitting with two hands off both wings involves. Her long black hair falls loosely out of the back of her cap, giving her something of the air of a gipsy. And to settle her nerves between points she practises her racket-head speed in a way that makes her look as if she is swatting a fly.

Irrespective of the outcome of Saturday's final, Bartoli won't be featured in the French national team next weekend that plays a Fed Cup semifinal against Italy. And the reason is at the root of why she is a controversial figure in the French tennis scene.

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