Marion Bartoli in Australian Open Tennis 2008

Marion Bartoli can bring out a surprise for the tennis world in Australian Open 2008. This rising star has already showed her skill and talent in various tournaments. Still without a grand slam title, she has the probability to win her first grad slam title this year. The year 2007 was the most highlighted year in her short career. Bartoli made her first grand slam final in 2007 reaching the final of Wimbledon. At this moment, she is ranked tenth in the WTA ranking. Marion Bartoli is likely to represent her country in Beijing Olympic 2008. However, for that she needs to take part in the Fed Cup.

AFP reported:

"If Marion Bartoli was selected by the captain and she refused this selection she would exclude herself from participating in the Olympic Games," explained national technical director Patrice Dominguez.

"The captain can judge that he needs Marion Bartoli if she is the best and now she is the number one, so why deprive ourselves of a player for a tricky trip such as that as challenging China in Beijing," added Dominguez.

Now, ahead of the Australian Open 2008, her fans are hoping to see Bartoli comes with the impressive form she had last year. However, Marion Barrtoli has to face some of the strongest opponents of Australian Open 2008 if she wants to reach her second grand slam final in the competition. She may face Venus Williams in the fourth round and fourth ranked Ana Ivanovic or Dinara Safina could come at the quarter final of the tournament. Bartoli might face challenging opponents like Svetlana Kuznetsova or Anna Chakvetadze or Daniela Hantuchova or Nadia Petrova in the semi final. So, she has to be at her best to reach the final of Australian Open 2008 tournament.