Just to clarify. When I wrote that it goes it with the territory of being French, what I meant was that the French fans and French people at large have a reputation for being quite fickle and unforgiving of their own hero’s (Marion in particular). I wasn’t saying that the international tennis audience are against the French. Of course not. Sorry for the initial lack of clarity on my part.

Vlado, Ana Ivanovic can be extremely frustrating. But I do believe the proverbial jury is still out on her future. Personally, I’m not terribly concerned about her slump. I think this was just a classic case of too much, too soon for a young inexperienced player. Two Grand Slam finals and the Roland Garros trophy is a pretty good haul for one season.

Jim, thanks for the links on your websites! I really appreciate your support of OTB. Yes, I thought about including Maria Kirilenko, but this year I’ve been fairly impressed by her results.

Andrew, sorry about the unicode! We’re using the WordPress blogging platform and for some reason, it did not recognize your comment.

Nick, I’m glad you liked the post! Tamira Paszek’s ranking has swung like a pendulum this season, and although I still think she has a lot of potential, she needs to work on being consistent.

Alice, to borrow a phrase from the great Winston Churchill, Marion Bartoli and her father are very similar to “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma.” They are a perplexing duo, and many fans and those in the tennis community find it difficult to understand them.

I’m not even going to attempt to analyze why that is, except to say that Marion is a staunch individualist. Part of that could be a good thing, because after all, tennis is an individualistic sport. She has a closely drawn circle, not unlike the Sharapova Camp, yet I do wonder if Marion could stand to benefit from supplemental assistance. Perhaps someone can cite an example, but off the top of my head, I can’t think of a truly successful champion who reached the top of the sport without at least using the assistance of someone outside their family. Even Venus and Serena, as loyal as they are to their parents, often seek advice from other avenues, for example Nick Bollettieri.

But I don’t think Marion’s image problem is because she is French. After all, Amelie Mauresmo, Tatiana Golovin, and Mary Pierce to name a few have not come under fire because of their nationality.

Sorry, I saw this very interesting post several days ago but only got a chance to reply tonight.

Its public recognition of sorts that Marion has moved from being totally invisible to totally frustrating. And progress that some now recognise that on a good day Marion can beat anyone. A year or two ago many would have found that statement laughable. I take your points on board Aaress and know they come from a good place.

Marion deserves support but is all too often met with venomous criticism and rejection. In part it goes with the territory of being French, and in part with the vicissitudes of being a professional tennis player.

There are many who profess to be fans yet become rather equivocal in their support when push comes to shove. With friends like these…..

Look at the way she held her shoulders in shame following the Stanford final. Yet Marion had NOTHING to feel ashamed about in my opinion.

As a fan, I may feel frustration FOR her, but not frustration BECAUSE OF her.

And then there’s Jelena Doki?, who has been in a horrible slump since 2004. She won a couple of ITF tournaments this year, but still hasn’t made it back as a regular on the WTA Tour.

You forgot too include Lil Masha (Kirilenko) in your excellent piece. My baldness is not merely due too old age, more due to being a Makiri and Marion fan!

PS I put links to On the Baseline on my Makiri and Anastasia sites. I hope thats ok

:)