Perhaps you missed this bit of amazement. But last week toward the end of Wimbledon, several alarming things happened, a few of them during the same match. The second ladies semi-final featured Justine Henin, the number one player in the world, against Marion Bartoli, a 22-year-old Frenchwoman who was seeded 18th and had never advanced to the second week of a grand slam event.
Henin had been coasting through the tournament and was widely expected to reach the final, having overcome, in the quarterfinals, a hampered Serena Williams (bum wrist = weak slice backhand). And coast she did. Henin won the first set easily, and she was also ahead in the second, playing confidently and intimidating her opponent with the variety of her shot-making and the size of her reputation.
Then according to Bartoli, the magic happened: She looked up into the grandstands on Centre Court and saw him. "I was focusing on Pierce Brosnan because he is so beautiful. I was just watching him. He was the only one - I said to myself, it's not possible I play so badly in front of him." From there, she turned the match around. The action on her groundstrokes didn't simply bewilder Henin, they shocked her off the court. The score of the final set was 6-1, and Bartoli, who's fitter than she looks (her father's wacko training regiment includes having her walk around with tennis balls taped to her heels), became a hero. Brosnan became something new for sports: an optical energy drink.
A wedding kept Brosnan from the final the following day, which is too bad since Bartoli was outplayed by Venus Williams. He sent Bartoli flowers as a sort of apology and congratulations. But as a gentleman he should consider planting himself at all her future matches.
