In a tearful goodbye that was literally painful, reigning Wimbledon champ Marion Bartoli retiree from tennis at age 28. The shocking announcement came following a loss to Simona Halep at the Western and Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, after which Bartoli said she just couldn’t do it anymore.
The French Grand Slam winner spent most of her life trying to get to the top of the tennis world and is now walking away from the game that has been her focus for the better part of three decades. Bartoli said that her body hurts so much after each tennis match that she can no longer tolerate the pain. Fortunately, she was able to go out right after she made it to the top, which is what most professional athletes only dream about.
Bartoli also cited her career accomplishments as being satisfying enough to walk away at this point. She reached her highest world ranking in 2012 and returned to No. 7 after her victory at Wimbledon. Now the sports world will ow never get to see whether or not this was just the beginning of Bartoli’s prime.
