Bartoli is trying to recapture the magic

As far as Marion Bartoli is concerned, her 1-2 record since reaching the final at Wimbledon is no reason for worry.

Bartoli, the 22-year-old underdog who upended two of the world’s top three players at Wimbledon before losing to Venus Williams in the final, is seeded sixth in this week’s East West Bank Classic at the Home Depot Center and is looking to get back on the path that brought her to Centre Court at the All England Club a month ago.

Today, the Frenchwoman faces Maria Kirilenko, who on Monday beat Elena Bovina, 7-6 (8), 6-3, in the round of 32

Bartoli skipped the WTA event in Cincinnati two weeks after Wimbledon and returned to action at Stanford for the Bank of the West Classic. In her first match there, she lost to Lilia Osterloh, who was then ranked No. 106. Last week at the Acura Classic in Carlsbad, Bartoli beat qualifier Aiko Nakamura but fell to Elena Dementieva in straight sets.

Bartoli said she was not worried about the result at Stanford because she probably should have skipped that event. She also said she was happy with the fight she gave Dementieva.

“At the end of Wimbledon, I was just so tired. I come back home, and I was mentally completely shut down,” Bartoli said. “Last week . . . I felt good. I win a good match against Nakamura and I lost in the next match against Dementieva in two sets but two hours and a half, so I think my tennis is coming back.”

But getting back to the level that propelled her to the Wimbledon final is a daunting challenge. Bartoli defeated Jelena Jankovic in the round of 16 and Justine Henin in the semifinals.

It was her performance against Henin, the world’s No. 1 player, that thrust Bartoli into the spotlight.

Bartoli lost the first set, 6-1, and was tied with Henin, 5-5, in the second. Then, she ran off seven straight games and earned a place in the final with a 6-1 victory in the third set.

She is not expecting to repeat that type of performance this week -- or any time soon.

“I just played a level of tennis you cannot play every single day. That’s just not possible,” she said. “You cannot play that kind of tennis every day. I cannot expect that from me. But what I can expect, I can see my middle level is good right now.”

Indeed, Bartoli says she is happy because she believes her average level of play has improved significantly since 2005, when she finished the year ranked 40th in the world.

Though she was unable to replicate her semifinal performance against Henin, Bartoli was satisfied with how she played in the final at Wimbledon, where Williams earned a fairly easy 6-4, 6-1 victory. Bartoli said that she played well but that Williams was simply too good to beat.

Bartoli had never advanced past the third round in a Grand Slam event before this year. Now, she said, she believes she can raise her game to a high level against the world’s top competition.

With eight of the world’s top 14 players competing this week -- and No. 5-ranked Ana Ivanovic in her half of the draw -- Bartoli will have a chance to test that confidence.

ken.fowler@latimes.com