Serena Williams vs. Marion Bartoli- 2011 Wimbledon Match Preview

Serena Williams vs. Marion Bartoli- 2011 Wimbledon Match Preview

Four time champion Serena Williams takes on Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli for a place in the quarter-finals of the 2011 Championships at Wimbledon, season's second Grand Slam event being played here at the All England lawn tennis club in London, England.

Four time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams made an emotional return to the centre court at SW19 when she defeated Frenchwoman Aravane Rezai in three gruelling sets. In her own words- "It definitely hit me at the end of the match. I'm not a cryer, so I don't know. I think it was something in my eyes at one point. It was so emotional for me because throughout the last 12 months I've been through a lot of things that aren't normal, things you guys don't even know about. It has just been a long, arduous road. To stand up still is pretty awesome."

Serena is a fighter and has proved it on many occasions when adverse situations tried to get the better of her. After securing come-from-behind victories in the opening rounds over two tricky opponents - Aravane Rezai and Simona Halep, Serena has signalled her return to form with a straight set victory over Russian Maria Kirilenko in third round.

Her opponent Marion Bartoli has been in smashing form this year with final performances at Indian Wells and at Strasbourg. She sizzled on French clay as she reached the semi-final at Roland Garros and was stopped only with the two time French Open Champion, Francesca Schiavone. Prior to Wimbledon, Bartoli also claimed her first title of the 2011 season with a final win at Birmingham against Czech Petra Kvitova.

Both players have met two times before and Serena has won on each occasion. Last time they met at U.S Open'2007 where Serena won 6-3, 6-4.