August 08 2009
Marion Bartoli

Bartoli is known for her unorthodox and intense style of play on the court. She uses two hands on both the forehand and the backhand, and is generally classed as an aggressive and hard-hitting player. She developed her two-handed style on the advice of her father, who is also her coach. He had seen the classic 1992 French Open final in which Monica Seles defeated Steffi Graf, and immediately was inspired to teach the technique to his daughter.

Bartoli also had trouble with her forehand at the time, so when she made the switch to two hands, it greatly improved. She uses her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and prefers to take the ball very early on ground strokes and especially returns of serve, usually standing close to the baseline or even inside it during rallies. Her style of play can be most closely compared to that of Seles, who had a strong influence on Bartoli as a young player, though unlike Seles, Bartoli serves right-handed. However, she is not a very good mover and is further inhibited by her two-fisted strokes, which can make her vulnerable to fast all-court players. Bartoli is also known for her unusual serve, in which she uses her waist to generate speed.

Bartoli played her first tournament of the US Open Series in Stanford as the number 8 seed. She advanced to the quarterfinals without dropping a set by defeating Ayumi Morita and Melanie Oudin. In the quarterfinals, she defeated fourth seed Jelena Jankovic 3-6, 7-6(3), 6-3 saving two match points in the second set. She defeated Samantha Stosur in the semi-finals 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 to advance to the finals where she defeated second seed Venus Williams 6-2, 5-7, 6-4 to win her second title of the year and fifth overall. Her record for the year stands at 35-14.