UNI

Kolkata, Sep 17: World No 10 Marion Bartoli may be the Bond girl, but she gets inspired by Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi.

Bartoli is the top seed at the Sunfeast Open commencing here at the Netaji Indoor stadium on September 17.

Asked about a non-tennis personality, who inspires her during a media interaction here, she said, "I have always looked up to people who have fought for peace. Someone like Mahatma Gandhi is very inspiring."

On her interaction with Pierce Brosnan during the Wimbledon, she said, "It was really good. It was so nice to meet him. I won the semifinal and meeting James Bond in person was like the cherry on the cake.

"It was really nice of him to have come down and talked to me after the match," she added with oodles of laughter.

Then the number one French lass said, "Now when I see Bond movies, I can say I know Mr Bond better."

When Bartoli defeated Justine Henin for a Centre Court clash in Wimbledon final, she had engineered an escape of which James Bond would have been proud. Aptly, The world is not enough is the Brosnan work that appeals to her most.

Betraying a girly side that was entirely absent on court, she had reflected then, "I was focusing on Pierce Brosnan because he is so beautiful. I was just watching him. He was the only one - I said to myself, it's not possible I play so badly in front of him."

However, tennis is not the only thing in her life. "I was a good student who used to get good grades. If I didn't play tennis I would push High School and do well for myself. I would do a job.

"But now tennis is a job I do and I want to do it well," the French lass added.