Marion Bartoli: My way of getting my life back on track is through sport

Marion Bartoli

Former Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli, 33, is returning to the game to keep her mental demons at bay. She announced her shock return to the women's tour in December, four years after originally calling time on her career. Bartoli retired just months after winning Wimbledon in 2013 - her only grand slam title. She suffered a dramatic weight loss that almost cost her life after contracting a virus in 2016 while also revealing she was abused in a relationship with a former boyfriend.

The Frenchwoman returns to court next week in the Tie Break Tens tournament in New York and that is where she is happiest. "Psychologically I suffer very much from different issues, most of them personal. My way of getting my life back on track is through sport, through being an athlete, through feeling adrenaline again and trying to win matches. That's what I feel defines me," she told the Daily Telegraph. "It's been a very difficult part of my life. Some days are tougher than others, but tennis makes me happy. I feel confident between those lines. At 33 I will be a bit slower than I was at 27," she added."

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