I posted this in Out & About but ths does deserve it's own topic.
From Sports Illustrated:
WIMBLEDON, England -- Five things we learned during a memorable day of tennis on Friday:
2. Even Justine Henin can succumb to nerves. For a player competing in her first Grand Slam semifinal, Bartoli -- inspired by Pierce Brosnan; hey, who isn't? -- played remarkably. She overcame a shaky first set and simply declined to miss a ball for the next 90 minutes or so. If ever there were a time to get into the "Zone," that blissful interval athletes dream about entering, this was it.
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FOX Sports: Secret agent inspires Bartoli
From Steve Griffiths in London
July 07, 2007
MARION Bartoli is within touching distance of a fairytale triumph at Wimbledon after she stunned world No.1 Justine Henin, but her toughest challenge is still to come.
The No.18 seed, from France, produced one of the biggest surprises in the history of the All England Club as she came back from a set down overnight to beat Henin 1-6 7-5 6-1 and set up a final showdown with triple champion Venus Williams on Saturday.
Bartoli's cool under duress was remarkable, but she put it all down to the presence of a former James Bond.
Pierce Brosnan, who played the secret agent, was watching the match and Bartoli was inspired by the presence of the actor.
"I was so stressed in the first set because it was my first time on Centre Court, but then I saw Pierce Brosnan watching and he is one of my favourite actors," she said.
"So I just started to play some good tennis for him.
"I hope he comes back on Saturday to bring me some more luck."
Henin looked odds-on to breeze into the final when she took the first set in just 22 minutes, but Bartoli gave the performance of a lifetime as she overwhelmed the Belgian with increasingly powerful and precise groundstrokes.
Bartoli had already beaten Serbian Jelena Jankovic, the No.3 seed, in the fourth round, but she easily surpassed that triumph by knocking out the French Open champion to reach her first grand slam final.
The 22 year old had never been past the fourth round of a Major before but, after initially looking nervous, she rose to the occasion on Centre Court in sensational style.
Beating Henin would have seemed difficult for Bartoli, but facing Williams could be an even more daunting proposition.
Williams gave a breathtaking display as she brushed aside Ana Ivanovic, the No.6 seed from Serbia, to make it to a grand slam final for the first time since winning Wimbledon in 2005.
The American is playing at the kind of level that made her the most feared player on the WTA Tour in the early part of the decade.
She destroyed Maria Sharapova in the fourth round, tormented Svetlana Kuznetsova in the last eight and could easily overwhelm Bartoli is the Frenchwoman cannot repeat her sterling effort against Henin.
Bartoli will at least go into the match with her confidence sky high after battling back to oust Henin.
She was initially out-classed as Henin cleverly moved her around the court in the first set.
She started to find some rhythm on her groundstrokes in the second set and got the decisive break in the 12th game to take the match to a decider.
Suddenly Henin was being to show signs of losing her composure.
Bartoli was playing every point as if it were her last and, throwing caution to the wind, she hit Henin off court.
She took the first five games of the set as Henin staggered towards an embarrassing exit.
When Bartoli got the chance to serve for the match, she could have let the situation get the better of her, but she closed it out in impressive fashion.
Williams had a far easier task as she turned on the style against Ivanovic to secure her sixth Wimbledon final appearance.
Although she was seeded No.23 because of her part-time presence on the WTA Tour, Williams made a mockery of the difference in rankings with a clinical 6-2 6-4 victory.
"I felt like I played really well in the first set," said the 27-year-old who will be chasing her sixth career grand slam title.
"I didn't give her many chances but she stayed right in there and was a tough competitor. This will be my sixth final here and I'm really excited."
Agence France-Presse
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Wimbledone org: 007 Inspires Marion to Win Friday, 6 July, 2007
For a while this evening, Marion Bartoli must have felt as though she was stuck in a B movie that had an ending she didn’t like. She had easily lost the first set of her semi-final against world No.1 Justine Henin and was down for the count in the second. The Belgian star of the show appeared on course for an easy – and wholly anticipated – win.
But then Bartoli spied former James Bond actor Pierce Brosnan in the royal box; what’s more, the debonair Irishman appeared to be rooting for her. Something clicked in the 22-year-old Frenchwoman’s mind, and in an unexpected plot twist, Bartoli battled her way to the final, 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.
“I love his movies,” Bartoli explained. “I said to myself, ‘it’s not possible I play so bad in front of him’… So I tried to feel the ball a bit more, play more smartly. I saw he was cheering for me, so I kept going and I won.”
And how. This week the tournament’s No.18 seed has demonstrated enormous self-belief, first with a stunning three-set victory over third seed Jelena Jankovic, which was backed up with a come-from-behind quarter-final win over Michaella Krajicek.
After her fourth round triumph over Jankovic, Bartoli was charmingly indignant at the suggestion the result was a shock. “It’s not a big surprise for me. I’m a top 20 player. I’m not 200 in the world. I think I could be in the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam. It’s not that big a surprise.”
Unorthodox of shot and slightly ungainly, Bartoli certainly backed up her words in her actions today. In fact, she somehow managed to make the sublimely talented Henin look ordinary.
“You know, on a good day, I can beat everybody. Every match, especially in tennis, is different. Now in women’s tennis, everybody can play everybody. Just because I lost 6-1, 6-1 in the semi-final of Eastbourne [to Henin], why I should lose again today?”
In terms of support from the stands, Mr Brosnan can’t take all the credit for the win. Bartoli paid tribute to her father, who she described as “a very good doctor and a very good tennis coach and a very good father”. She added: “We did it together actually. Really it means a lot to me, of course, and to him as well.”
Bartoli reminisced about growing up in France, describing how the multi-purpose sports courts she had to practice on indoors provided just a metre between the baseline and the backboard. This meant she had to stay inside the baseline, learn to take the ball early, and aim for the targets her father had set.
“If I touched the targets I got candy,” she explained. “So I was very motivated. Maybe that’s why I’m still loving too much the candies.”
She mightn’t hit the ball as hard as some of the girls on the tour, but as Henin found out, she knows how to attack the ball and can be unerringly accurate.
A disappointed Henin had been gunning for the only Grand Slam title to elude her, but was able to pay Bartoli her due: “I don’t understand what happened. But, yeah, she played her match and she did a very good job.
“I played a very good first set, then I had a couple of chances at the end of the second set. I didn’t take these chances and the match completely turned over. I didn’t feel fresh enough in the third set to compete with her. She played very good tennis.”
But for Bartoli, beating the best in the world is not enough: she wants to win Wimbledon, and tomorrow she will have the chance, against three-time champion Venus Williams.
It won’t be easy though, for Williams is No.23 seed in name only. On paper Bartoli, five places higher, should be the bookies’ favourite. But as Lindsay Davenport discovered to her cost in the ladies’ singles final two years ago, Venus knows how to make magic in SW19, even if her season has been troubled.
“I’ve never played against Venus,” Bartoli said. “I’ve played against her sister, Serena. I guess, you know, to beat the No.1 in the world will give me a lot of confidence. And to play on this court, Centre Court, win that match, I will be really up for tomorrow.
“I have nothing to lose. Venus has been the champion here already. You know, I will try to figure out the way to play against her. Even if I lose the first set, I won’t go out. I will try my best to play the best as possible and to win this match.”
To steal a line from a certain popular movie franchise, she’s planning to die another day.
Written by Adam Lincoln