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Associated Press 17y

Bartoli thrilled by Grand Slam final, even in defeat

WIMBLEDON, England -- Wimbledon runner-up Marion Bartoli
wouldn't have wanted to play anywhere else.

Not even in front of her home fans.

"I love the French Open because, first of all, I love Paris,"
Bartoli said after losing to Venus Williams 6-4, 6-1 Saturday in
her first Grand Slam final. "But, you know, Wimbledon is so
special because of all those traditions."

Bartoli upset top-ranked Justine Henin and No. 3 Jelena Jankovic
to reach the final at the All England Club, surpassing her previous
best of fourth round at Roland Garros this year.

The 22-year-old Frenchwoman said she was sad to lose, but she
was still smiling while talking about the lift she got from the
Centre Court atmosphere.

"Tomorrow I won't be that disappointed, because I will realize
what I achieved, which is already awesome," Bartoli said. "But
right now, because I want it so bad, yes, of course, I'm
disappointed."

The fans on Centre Court cheered when Bartoli broke Williams to
make it 3-all in the first set. They were happy again when she
joined them in the wave as it passed through the stands while
Williams received treatment to her leg.

"It's like you have the crowd so close to you, you feel it,"
Bartoli said. "You almost feel the people are cheering for you.
That you really do not feel in the French Open that much, or maybe
the U.S. Open, which is even a bigger stadium."

You also don't always get a gift from a famous actor.

After beating Henin, Bartoli said she was inspired by seeing
Pierce Brosnan -- who used to play James Bond -- in the stands. He
paid her back Saturday: She found a bouquet of flowers and a letter
from him waiting in the locker room.

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EQUAL PAY: Venus Williams took home the biggest paycheck for a
Grand Slam singles champion -- and it's the same amount Roger
Federer or Rafael Nadal will get on Sunday.

Wimbledon is paying equal prize money to men and women for the
first time this year, so Williams received $1.407 million along
with her title.

Williams was among the proponents of equal prize money,
publishing an op-ed column on the issue in The Times of London
during the tournament last year.

The headline read, "Wimbledon has sent me a message: I'm only a
second-class champion," and Williams wrote, "How can the words
'Wimbledon' and 'inequality' be allowed to coexist?"

She mentioned the subject during Saturday's trophy ceremony,
paying tribute to Billie Jean King's decades-long role in the fight
for equal pay and prompting a roar of delight from the crowd.

"Thank you, All England Club -- we're playing under equal
terms," Williams said.

Later, she said: "We were ready and willing to do what it took
to have equality on all levels. It was just very important for us.
People heard us. People believed in us."

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BRYANS ARE BACK: American twins Bob and Mike Bryan are in the
Wimbledon doubles final for the third straight year.

The defending champions beat Fabrice Santoro and Nenad Zimonjic
7-6 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (6) Saturday.

"Luckily we got out of it in three and kept it short so we have
our energy for tomorrow," Bob Bryan said.

The five-time Grand Slam champion Bryans, who face Arnaud
Clement and Michael Llodra in the final, have not dropped a set at
this year's tournament.

Clement and Llodra reached the final by beating Marcelo Melo and
Andre Sa 7-6 (8), 6-3, 6-3.

In the women's doubles final, Katarina Srebotnik and Ai Sugiyama
will play 2005 champions Cara Black and Liezel Huber.

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BULLIED BY A BLISTER: Hobbling and in pain, Novak Djokovic
didn't want to risk making his injuries worse.

The fourth-seeded Serb was forced to quit while playing 2006
Wimbledon finalist Rafael Nadal in Saturday's semifinals because of
a blister on his left foot.

"I wanted to avoid ... making it more serious for the future,"
Djokovic said. "It's not just the blister I have. It's a big
infection from yesterday."

Djokovic said he considered withdrawing before the match because
of blister and back pain following Friday's quarterfinal win over
Marcos Baghdatis.

Djokovic, who also lost to Nadal in this year's French Open
semifinals, will rest for two weeks. Then he plans one more
European tournament in Umag, Croatia, before preparing for the U.S.
Open by playing two hard-court tournaments.

"I'm going to try to reduce my tournaments as much as I can
because I've played a lot, really a lot of matches. I'm not used to
that," Djokovic said. "I had a really difficult season. No rest
basically in six, seven months."

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