Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli has shocked tennis by announcing her retirement following her 3-6 6-4 6-1 defeat to Simona Halep in the second round of the Cincinnati Open.
The 28-year-old Frenchwoman, who lost to 33rd-ranked Magdalena Rybarikova in Toronto last week, wept as she revealed that her body can no longer cope with the physical demands of the sport.
"It's time for me to retire and to call it a career," she told reporters. "I feel it's time for me to walk away actually. My body just can't do it anymore. I have pain everywhere after 45 minutes or an hour of play.
"I've been through a lot of injuries since the beginning of the year. I've been on the tour for so long, and I really pushed through and left it all during that Wimbledon.
"I really felt I gave all the energy I have left inside my body. I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything. After one set, my whole body was in pain."
Bartoli turned professional in 2000 and has gone on to win eight WTA events.
She defeated Sabine Lisicki to win the title at SW19 six weeks ago and insisted that she not worried about her legacy.
She added: "Everyone will remember my Wimbledon title - no-one will remember the last match I played here."
Bartoli was forced to withdraw from recent tournaments in Stanford and Carlsbad due to injury problems.
Michael Penkman
