NotAShadow

(Trigger warning)

On Saturday, on the legendary green grass of Center Court at the All England Club, Marion Bartoli delivered an ace to the corner of the service box on championship point to become the 2013 women’s Wimbledon champion. After shaking hands with her opponent Sabine Lisicki, she sprinted in exultation towards the player’s box where her coaches, family and supporters sat. As a 28-year-old veteran of the professional women’s tennis circuit, she was exuberantly, deliriously happy to win her first Grand Slam title.

She was also, apparently, a disappointment to some male viewers, including a commentator from the BBC, John Inverdale. In the lead-up to the match, Inverdale said the following while live on a BBC radio station:

“Do you think Bartoli’s dad told her when she was little ‘You’re never going to be a looker? You’ll never be a Sharapova, so you have to be scrappy and fight’.”

Inverdale’s comment paled in comparison to the slurs hurled at Bartoli during the match on Twitter. The most egregious were compiled by @EverydaySexism into a list of facepalm-inducing horror, such as…

@OliKRatcliffe: Bartoli didn’t deserve to win because she is ugly.

@Gavbrown2: Really hate that Bartoli, would love too smash the wee fat cow!! Irritating me!!

@JayH_96: I want Lisicki to win because she is really fit. Bartoli wouldn’t even get raped let alone fucked.

@RossMackaay: FUCK OF BARTOLI YOU UGLY FAT BALOTELLI WANNABE CUNT

(Bonus bigot points for implied racism against black Italian footballer Mario Balotelli.)

Marion Bartoli toiled for years crafting ...