An emotional Marion Bartoli received a standing ovation while she walks onto center court at Wimbledon to perform a coin toss that left her teary-eyed.

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29-year-old Bartoli is the defending champion of this year's Wimbledon but after a series of injuries, she was forced to retire just a few weeks after winning the 2013 Wimbledon Championships.

It should have been Bartoli that would be playing the center court Tuesday and she would have opened day two with the traditional honor for the holder of the Venus Rosewater Dish but since she has retired, the duty has been handed over to last year's runner-up Germany's Sabine Lisicki.

Bartoli walked into center court accompanied by a nine-year-old girl Elle Robus-Miller who is a player from the Elena Baltacha Academy of Tennis in Ipswich. She was then followed by Lisicki and Ukrainian Julia Glushko.

After performing a coin toss, Bartoli, while wiping her tears, then proceeded to the front row of the Royal Box, just three seats along from Sir Bruce Forsyth.

The match then started between Lisicki and Glushko.

24-year-old Lisicki made a lot of unforced errors during the match, but despite of this, she scored 71 percent from her serves and claimed victory at 6-2 6-1.

"It's such a huge honor. It's been amazing," said Lisicki after the match. "I think it was a very, very special moment. It was great to see Marion out there and also (the tribute) for Elena Baltacha."

"When I stepped out on court I was quite nervous today but the crowd helped me settle down quickly. It's such a special place to come back to," Lisicki added.

British Elena Sergeevna Baltacha was Ukrainian-born British professional tennis player and was seeded No. 1 in the United Kingdom from 2002 to 2012.

Baltacha was diagnosed with liver cancer in January and later succumbed to her decease on May 4 in her home at Ipswich.

Tagssabine Lisicki, Sir Bruce Forsyth, Elena Baltacha, Julia Glushko, liver cancer, Marion, Bartoli, wimbledon, coin toss