She would practice tennis with him late at night after school on small, icy, unevenly surfaced courts which restricted free movement and influenced her playing style.

Her game was based on power and she used her double-fisted strokes to create sharp angles to open up the court and preferred to take the ball very early on groundstrokes.

Bartoli was not a very good mover on court, a state exacerbated by her two-fisted strokes, which made her vulnerable to fast all-court players such as Agnieszka Radwańska (whom she never beat).

[11] Bartoli manifested unusual on-court mannerisms, such as energetically bouncing on the spot and practising racquet swings between points, and being noticeably restless during changeovers.

Bartoli began 2003 by coming through the qualifying draw in the Canberra International to reach her first WTA Tour semifinal, where she lost to Francesca Schiavone.

In February Bartoli played at the Hyderabad Open, where she defeated Ankita Bhambri, Galina Fokina, and Mervana Jugić-Salkić to reach the semifinals, before losing to eventual champion Nicole Pratt.

Partnering compatriot Émilie Loit, she reached the semifinals of Acapulco, the quarterfinals of Indian Wells, and then Bartoli won her first WTA doubles title in Casablanca.

In the absence of Amélie Mauresmo and Mary Pierce due to injuries, Bartoli received her debut Fed Cup call-up for France's semifinals against Spain.

The only match Bartoli played in the clay-court season was her straight-sets first-round loss to Shahar Pe'er at the French Open (where she was seeded for the first time, 28th).

In January 2006, Bartoli at 21 years of age won her first senior title at the Auckland Open in New Zealand, beating Vera Zvonareva in the final.

She then lost in the second round of the first three Grand Slam events of the year (losing to Roberta Vinci in Australia, Jelena Janković in Paris, and Karolina Šprem at Wimbledon, all in three sets), but she won her third career doubles title by capturing the ECM Prague Open with Shahar Pe'er in May.

Bartoli reached her first career Grand Slam fourth round at the French Open by defeating Aravane Rezaï, Andrea Petkovic, and 13th seed Elena Dementieva.

[22] Bartoli lost the first set, and claimed afterwards that the reason for her turnaround in the match was seeing Pierce Brosnan in the royal box and being determined to play well in front of one of her favourite actors.

However, after Serena Williams withdrew,[24] Bartoli entered the event and played in the yellow group, where she lost to Justine Henin without winning a game, but defeated Jelena Janković after the Serbian retired.

At the Open Gaz de France, Bartoli made it to the semifinals following easy wins over Virginie Razzano and Dominika Cibulková.

Seeded sixth at the Stanford Classic, Bartoli defeated Akgul Amanmuradova, Anne Keothavong, defending champion Anna Chakvetadze, and Ai Sugiyama, to move into her first final since Wimbledon in 2007.

Seeded second, she beat Michaëlla Krajicek, Magdaléna Rybáriková, Vania King, and Zheng Jie to reach the final, where she defeated unseeded Li Na.

In Charleston, Bartoli was seeded sixth and defeated Anastasija Sevastova, Melanie Oudin, and Melinda Czink to reach the semifinals, where she lost to eventual champion Sabine Lisicki.

At the Commonwealth Bank Tournament of Champions in Bali, Bartoli defeated Rybáriková, and qualified for the semifinals when she beat Shahar Pe'er.

Seeded eighth at the Eastbourne International, she defeated Vera Dushevina, Ágnes Szávay and María José Martínez Sánchez to reach the semifinals for the fourth consecutive year before she lost to Victoria Azarenka.

At the Stanford Classic in California, where she was defending her title, she defeated Ashley Harkleroad and Ana Ivanovic to reach the quarterfinals, where she lost to Victoria Azarenka.

She defeated Monica Niculescu, Andrea Petkovic, Kim Clijsters (who retired with an injury), Ana Ivanovic and Yanina Wickmayer to reach the final, where she lost to world No.

She reached 15 quarterfinals, eight semifinals, and five finals, and won two titles (Eastbourne and Osaka), resulting in her best year financially, earning $1,722,863 in tournament prize money.

She received a bye into the second round, then defeated Petra Martić, Roberta Vinci and Klára Zakopalová to reach the final, which she lost to Angelique Kerber.

She received a bye into the second round, then defeated Vania King, Christina McHale and Chan Yung-jan to reach the final, which she lost to second seed and close friend Dominika Cibulkova.

At the French Open, Bartoli was seeded 13th and defeated Olga Govortsova in the first round, qualifier Mariana Duque Marino in the second, but lost to Francesca Schiavone in the third.

Bartoli announced her immediate retirement from tennis during the Western & Southern Open, citing continuous and increasingly unbearable pain from injuries sustained throughout her career.

[34][35] At an emotional press conference, just 40 days after her Wimbledon victory, she said "I made my dream a reality and it will stay forever with me, but now my body just can't cope with everything.

[citation needed] In December 2017, Bartoli announced her return to the professional tour, and she stated she hoped to be back for the Miami Open in March 2018.

[citation needed] In October 2019, Bartoli began coaching former French Open champion Jeļena Ostapenko at the tournament in Linz.