Marion Bartoli has always done things differently in her tennis career. She bounced strangely on her toes on the court between points, taking aggressive practice swings, batting at the air as her unkempt bangs stuck to her face, covered in perspiration.

But the quirky Frenchwoman was a tennis insider's dream. She smiled in press conferences. Adored choc-au-lat, as she'd say it in French. And always shook an opponent's hand, shrugging off the "girl, please" de rigueur of women's tennis.

And when she won Wimbledon this year, a shocking run just last month that saw her make her way through a strange and upset-ridden tournament, the 28-year-old ran with gusto – not grace – to her player box, not caring what the world thought or said about her, doing it Marion's way.

Wednesday night Bartoli was at it again, announcing her retirement from tennis in a way that only Marion could: weeks after her lone Grand Slam title and just minutes after she lost at the Western & Southern Open to Simona Halep. (Right... who?)

But this time, Bartoli has gotten it wrong. Long known for her quirks, her crazy training techniques and a doctor father who knew little about tennis, Bartoli leaves tennis just when the mainstream was starting to understand her, and when she had etched her way into history with a Wimbledon title, six years after making it there and losing to Venus Williams.

"I think I know Marion as well or better than any journalist and have to say that was a spur of moment decision she might regret later," tennis writer Matt Cronin wrote on his Twitter account.

"It's never easy, and obviously there is never a time to say it or whatever, but that was actually the last match of my career," Bartoli said after her loss in Cincinnati. "I felt I just couldn't do this anymore."

MORE: Fellow Players React to Announcement

Tennis – women's tennis – has long been plagued by too-soon retirements from some of its biggest stars. Kim Clijsters and Justine Henin both made second comebacks after initially walking away, as did American  Lindsay Davenport. Recently, Martina Hingis has begun a "third career" of sorts, playing doubles after twice retiring from singles - most recently in 2007.

Bartoli's win at Wimbledon was a "lifelong dream," she said after capturing the trophy there. The Frenchwoman was obviously beside herself, taking a glamorous tour through the country that had never really warmed to her awkward two-fisted groundstrokes and constant thigh-slapping. She was honored at the Tour de France last month, swept away in a police escort, and even spent a day with her favorite soccer team, Olympique de Marseille. Wearing Louboutins.

What Bartoli should have done was this: take the summer off, skip the U.S. Open, rest her body, her mind, her emotions for a bit and re-evaluate come October. Finish out the season at obscure tournaments in Asia? Sure, OK. Come back for the Australian Open afresh in January? Why not. Or if it all felt good, live the life of shopping and yoga classes and weird charity dinners and painting her toenails Wimbledon green and purple, then call it quits at a press conference in Paris, with dad in her player's box and an appropriate send off – champagne!

Instead, frenzy followed the announcement, which came at an 11th-hour (literally) press conference in Cincinnati, with tournament and tour officials ushering members of the media in with a you'll-want-to-be-here-for-this look in their eyes.

"Love that Bartoli has always done things her own way. But this is strange, unconvincing," wrote Tom Perrotta of the Wall Street Journal moments later on Twitter.

"Genuinely worried Marion will regret this decision," added Courtney Nguyen of Sports Illustrated. "Seems very heat of the moment, emotions running high."

Emotions high, indeed. On Monday, the newly-minted All England Club member could barely contain her giddiness in a live online show broadcast by the Women's Tennis Association, showing the hosts her member pin and clarifying that it lasted "forever and ever."

In a season that wasn't her best, Bartoli was just 23-15, and 16-15 if you discount her seven magical wins at Wimbledon. Perhaps something bigger was happening in Camp Marion that we didn't know about?

"If you take out Wimbledon, Bartoli had quite the nightmare season on and off court," tweeted Carole Bouchard, the lead tennis writer for the French newspaper, L'Equipe. "Emotionally draining. There's s[ome]thing very wrong somewhere."

But what is actually wrong is the way that Bartoli didn't seem to take any time to think about her action. Week one: win Wimbledon. Weeks two to five: celebrate winning. Weeks five and six: play some tennis. Week seven: retire? That's not a recipe for a sound decision. Seems like the seven steps to a bad one, actually.

"I've been playing for a long, long time, and it's time for me now," Bartoli told media in Cincinnati. "It is."

But the day after Bartoli qualified for the Wimbledon final, I spotted her: alone, she was walking up the sidewalk on Wimbledon Hill Road, the twisting street that takes you to the neighborhood's storied village. She was carrying her own racquet bag and a satchel of her laundry. I locked eyes with Marion for a minute and she smiled at me – a smile that told me she loved what she was doing for a living, even if it's all so bizarre, so weird, even if it means carrying your laundry up a hill the day before you win tennis' most coveted prize.

It was another quirky Marion moment. And I bet, somewhere down that road, we'll see a few more.