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Liveblogging the Wimbledon Women’s Final

By Amy on July 6, 2013

Good morning! I’ll be here liveblogging this crazy Wimbledon women’s final between World No. 24 Sabine Lisicki and World No. 15 Marion Bartoli.

A couple of things to keep in mind before we start:

1. Lisicki leads their head-to-head, 3-1, her last win coming at Wimbledon in 2011, and Bartoli’s only win coming back at Wimbledon in 2008. Still, it’s been two years since they’ve played against each other.

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2. Sabine Lisicki is 9-6 against top 20 opponents on grass. She’s beaten Serena Williams, Agnieszka Radwanska, Maria Sharapova, and Li Na at Wimbledon. But Bartoli is no slouch on grass, either, having won 69% of her matches on that surface during her career. She’s beaten Serena Williams, Victoria Azarenka, and Petra Kvitova on grass, and has a 2007 Wimbledon final to her name.

3. Here’s how they got here, courtesy of the WTA:

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First Set

Bartoli will serve first.

Bartoli saves two break points that Lisicki earns with some strong hitting, but then she double faults twice at deuce to hand Lisicki the break. What a terrible start for Bartoli.

Lisicki makes a couple loose mistakes, and Bartoli gets her own chances to break serve. Lisicki saves one with an ace, and double faults on the second one to hand Bartoli the break. Yikes. Nervy start for both.

And now we have moonballs.

Bartoli manages the first hold of the match. I’m going to need more caffeine.

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More errors from Lisicki, and Bartoli breaks for 3-1. She holds easily for 4-1, and Lisicki can’t sink her teeth into the match. Bartoli is absorbing Lisicki’s pace with ease, and forcing errors.

What a train wreck for Lisicki. She blows game point, and nets a forehand to give Bartoli another break point. She looks on the verge of tears. It’s hard to even evaluate whether her gameplan is effective against Bartoli, because she’s not executing anything at the moment. She double faults to give Bartoli a break point, and blasts another forehand long. Bartoli leads 5-1.

Even the generous Wimbledon unforced errors counter is at 11 for Lisicki, six games in. It’s probably more like double that.

Bartoli holds at love, and takes the first set, 6-1. She has won 31 points to Lisicki’s 17.

Some eye-popping stats to demonstrate just how bad Lisicki’s set was, especially on serve:

Lisicki won just 36% of her own first serve points, and 42% of her second serve points.

Second Set

Lisicki holds at 15 for the first time in the match, and smiles. Hopefully she’s back on track.

Oh no:

Lisicki has so many chances to break, but Bartoli saves them all, and holds for 1-all. Such a crucial hold for Bartoli, to prevent Lisicki from gaining any momentum.

Bartoli wins a long rally for 0-15 on Lisicki’s serve with a down-the-line shot that looked out. Hawk-Eye would’ve handed Lisicki the point, but she didn’t challenge.

Lisicki hits another error, and a double fault. Now it’s 0-40. This is bad. Bartoli breaks for 2-1.

Bartoli holds for 3-1.

From game point up, Lisicki hits an error and double faults to give Bartoli another break point for 4-1. She’s crying on-court.

More errors, and Bartoli breaks for 4-1. This might be one of the worst meltdowns I’ve ever seen in a slam final.

Lisicki saves three championship points to hold for 2-5. It’s probably too late.

Lisicki tries hitting inside the lines for a few points, and breaks back for 3-5, as Bartoli serves for the title.

Suddenly Lisicki is hitting winners all over the place. She holds for 4-5. Can she really turn this around now? Bartoli will have another chance to serve for it.

There will be no such comeback. Bartoli serves it out in triumphant fashion, sealing it off at love with an ace. Bartol is your champion.

Haha, Bartoli jokes around about her serve:


Amy can be spotted on a tennis court in the Philadelphia area, shanking backhand volleys.

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3 Responses

  1. skip1515
    skip1515 July 6, 2013 at 11:03 am |

    Yes! (And a “Good Job!” to Lisicki for how she handled herself afterwards.”

  2. Ophelia
    Ophelia July 6, 2013 at 1:52 pm |

    It was not fun at all watching Lisicki self-destruct for almost the entire match. I’m relieved that she at least got her act together for the last couple of games and proved that Bartoli was playing well enough that she would have likely found a way to win even if the good Lisicki had showed up more often.

  3. Katwhale
    Katwhale July 6, 2013 at 2:38 pm |

    So sad for Sabine, but admire both of these women. Best post match net meeting!

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