Wimbledon 2013: Marion Bartoli beats Sabine Lisicki to win title

France's Marion Bartoli won her
first Grand Slam title with a
dominant 6-1 6-4 victory over
German 23rd seed Sabine Lisicki
in the Wimbledon final.
Bartoli won the first set in 30 minutes as
Lisicki failed to cope with the occasion of
a first Grand Slam final.
The 23-year-old cut a fragile figure and
was reduced to tears in the second set,
helpless to prevent Bartoli from lifting the
Venus Rosewater dish.
Bartoli ended with an ace, collapsing to
the ground once victory was hers.
When the stunned 15th seed rose to her
feet, she celebrated by climbing to the
players' box to embrace family and
friends.
Among those whom Bartoli hugged was
her mentor and 2006 Wimbledon
champion Amelie Mauresmo, the last
Frenchwoman to win at SW19, and her
father and former coach Walter.

Bartoli had bossed her opponents
throughout the tournament and another
commanding victory over Lisicki means
she is now only the sixth player in the
Open era to win a Wimbledon title
without dropping a set.
"Honestly I cannot believe it," said the
world number 15, the 2007 runner-up
and a Grand Slam winner at the 47th
attempt.
"I really felt I was playing probably my
best match of the Championships. I was
doing everything well. I was moving well,
I was returning well. I really played a
wonderful match.
"Even in my perfect dream I couldn't
have dreamed a perfect moment like
that. That is beyond perfection."
It was a final few had predicted and
inexperience on such a grand stage
perhaps explained the edgy opening from
both finalists.
The unconventional French number one
surrendered the first game of the match
with a double fault but her rival followed
suit, double faulting to allow Bartoli to
level at 1-1.
Thereafter Bartoli, five years her
opponent's senior and seeded eight
places higher than the German, settled
the quicker, taking the second of two
break points in the fourth game for a 3-1
lead.
She had returned brilliantly throughout
the Championships - making 81% of her
returns prior to the final - and her ploy of
returning from inside the baseline proved
key to success over a big-serving rival
known as 'boom boom' in Germany.
Her main weapon neutralised, Lisicki
double faulted again in the sixth game
before directing a forehand long to gift
Bartoli a 5-1 advantage.