How surprised was I when I woke up this morning and read that Marion Bartoli had retired in the CommonwealthBank Tournament of Champions final in Bali?
Not at all.
This is the story of Bartoli's career--get some momentum, and then sustain an injury. In this case, it was her thigh, which began troubling her toward the end of the first set. Rezai won that set 7-5, and then Bartoli retired. I have written extensively for a long time about Bartoli's injury problems, so I won't address that issue here.
Aravane Rezai is a player who has endured some unpleasant times on the tour. She survived those times, and it is really nice to see her win a title that carries some prestige. Rezai is a big hitter, and this has been a really good season for her. She won her first tour title in Strassbourg, and she also reached the round of 16 at the French Open.
I was disappointed in Bartoli. I generally like her but she seems to have a lot of injury problems as you have said. Is she not training properly or is she accident prone or is she not gutting it out? Her coach-dad is a doctor, you'd think he would be able to figure out the physical/or mental to help her. This was a big tournament and I thought she would push through. Too bad. Good for Rezai for getting through the tournament undefeated.
ReplyDeleteFor years, Sunny, my educated guess has been--and continues to be--that Marion's coach puts her through training regimens that, while helpful, go over the line and make her vulnerable to injury.
ReplyDeleteI could be wrong, and of course, there is probably more than one reason. But having someone train for an hour and half right before a match sounds like a formula for injury development.