Former Jamaica Davis Cup player Karl Hale retired against a younger, fitter Frenchwoman, Marion Bartoli, in their exhibition "battle of the sexes" on Friday night at the Half Moon Hotel in Montego Bay.
The 30-year-old Baroli, the 2013 Wimbledon Champion, defeated Hale 6-2 in the first set with the second tied at 2-2 when Hale retired.
The match was a fundraiser to assist in the building of a new school in Montego Bay. The charity event raised more than $2 million.
Bartoli won the women's singles title at Wimbledon on July 6 in 2013, the highlight and pinnacle of her career.
She shocked her peers and the tennis world when she announced her retirement from the sport on August 15, 2013, 40 days after lifting the Wimbledon title, saying she "couldn't permit myself to do things halfway."
Bartoli revealed the pain she was playing through and said it had become unbearable. There was no better time to bow out gracefully than at the top of your career, as the Wimbledon champion.
"My body cannot cope" Bartoli said then. "The pain in my achilles tendon....it becomes an ordeal when I can't even walk."
She revealed she experienced excruciating pain in her serving shoulder, her ribs and lower back.
Bartoli will always be remembered as one of the nicest persons on the WTA circuit, and the 2013 Wimbledon Champion.
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