Top seed Marion Bartoli squandered two match points before retiring with an ankle injury in her opening match at the Tournament of Champions against Spain’s Anabel Medina Garrigues on Friday. The Frenchwoman, who also retired in the final of the event in 2009, collapsed to the ground after injuring her right ankle soon after the start of the third set. She was writhing in agony as she received treatment and was eventually helped off the court, surrendering the match 4-6 7-6(7) 1-0. Bartoli had stood just one point away from advancing but was left frustrated as her erratic serve let her down, prompting her to discard several rackets. After watching her Spanish opponent save one match point, Bartoli double faulted on the second. “It happened in the tiebreaker,” Bartoli told Reuters. “On one of Anabel’s dropshots I really felt my ankle blocked and my whole body went forward on it. “It started to hurt a few seconds after and when I got the match point on my serve I really struggled to put any weight on my foot. Everything falls apart from there,” she added. “I didn’t put any weight on it while I sat in my chair (before the third set) but when I began to walk to serve I realised how bad it was getting. Even if I won the match point I wouldn’t be able to play tomorrow.
