Comparing Marion Bartoli and Flavia Penetta

Some players have found success very early in their lives, for example, Martina Hingis and Rafael Nadal, while some players like Andy Murray and Stan Wawrinka bloomed only later in their career. But, tennis has also witnessed some players who have ended their career by striking gold only in their last shot.
Marion Bartoli and Flavia Pennetta are two such players who bid adieu to their tennis career on a high note by winning their solo grand slam. Bartoli retired after winning Wimbledon in 2013 citing sustained injuries as the reason. The announcement of the retirement of Pennetta, immediately after winning the US Open, 2015 came as a shocker to most.

Let’s have a look at a few similarities and differences between the two players.

The older of the two, Pennetta hails from Italy while Bartoli is of French descent.
While Pennetta won the 1999 French Open in girl’s doubles, Bartoli struggled in her initial years. Both the players turned pro in the year 2000. They have also held the same highest singles ranking of 7 in the world.
Playing Styles :
Both players play right handed, prefer a strong baseline game and are not good movers on the court. They even had the same tennis idol, Monica Seles, while growing up. But apart from that, they have a totally different approach towards the game. While Bartoli is aggressive and intense, Pennetta is softer.
Bartoli has an unusual serve that has varied over the years. The latest being the no ball toss one wherein the hands are crossed. Despite a weak action, her serves are decent and consistent. She is also a returner of the serves due to good hand-eye coordination and anticipation skills. Whereas Pennetta’s serves are pacier, but with a higher tendency to hit double faults.
As admitted by Bartoli, the on-court mannerisms that she has adopted, like brisk bouncing on the spot and vigorously swinging the racquet help her in maintaining her focus. Pennetta is rarely spotted showing extreme emotions on the court. She constructs her points well and shows more variety in her game.

RECORDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
By winning US Open 2015, became the oldest first-time Grand Slam champion at 33 yrs and 6 months (open era). She is also the second player ever, other than Graf, to beat both the singles and doubles No.1 on the same day. She has also had far greater success in doubles as she won the Tour Finals in 2010 and the Australian Open doubles in 2011. Other notable wins include Fed Cup victories in 2005, 2009, 2010 and 2013.

Bartoli is the only player ever to have played at both the WTA Tour Championships and the WTA Tournament of Champions in the same year (2011). She is also the sixth player in the open era to win the Wimbledon Championships without dropping a single set.

Here is summarising the statistics of the two.

FLAVIA PENNETTA	MARION BARTOLI
Career Singles Titles- 11WTA, 7ITF	Career Singles Titles- 8WTA,6ITF
Career Doubles Titles- 17WTA, 9ITF	Career Doubles Titles- 3WTA, 1ITF
Career Singles Record – 578-361	Career Singles Record- 490-299
Career Doubles Record- 392–242	Career Doubles Record—117-82
Highest singles ranking: 7 Highest doubles ranking: 1	Highest singles ranking: 7 Highest doubles ranking  15
Winner(singles): US Open 2015 (doubles): Australian Open 2011	Winner(singles): Wimbledon 2013 runner-up at Wimbledon 2007
Career Prize Money- $ 13,808,145	Career Prize Money- $ 11,055,114