Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli says that while she could not have won her first Grand Slam without the help of her father and coach Walter, learning self-reliance was vital to her major breakthrough.
“I needed to take more responsibility in practice and when playing matches,” she said at the Rogers Cup, where she is seeded seventh. “I looked at him all the time trying to find solutions, but it was more taking my responsibility and going for my shots and trying to find solutions myself.”
The Bartolis ended their coach-pupil relationship at the start of the season. Marion suffered four first-round losses in five tournaments leading up to Roland Garros and Walter briefly agreed to help his daughter again, but then stepped away prior to Wimbledon.
“That was a hard decision to take, you are not splitting 22 years of relationship over night,” Marion said. “I’ve been through some really tough moments at the beginning of year, but then I was able to live the best moment of my life. I really went down before going high and it makes the story sweeter. I know where I started. The people who were really with me on the very low were with me on the very top.”