Bartoli mauls Lisicki to win Wimbledon title
Source: Agencies |
July 7, 2013, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MARION Bartoli overwhelmed an out-of-sorts Sabine Lisicki 6-1, 6-4 on a sun-drenched Centre Court in London to win her first Wimbledon title yesterday.
Frenchwoman Bartoli, seeded 15th, took full advantage of a desperately nervous performance by her German opponent who knocked out defending champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.
Bartoli, 28, became the first French player to win a grand slam title since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006, finally breaking her major trophy drought at the 47th attempt.
"As a small girl I dreamed about this moment," Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up to American Venus Williams, said in a courtside interview at the All England Club after lifting the Venus Rosewater dish.
"Finishing with an ace to win Wimbledon, even in my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined that. Honestly, I cannot believe it. Have practiced my serve for so long, at least I kept it for the best moment!"
Lisicki, the 23rd seed, broke Bartoli's serve in the opening game of the match but the Frenchwoman hit straight back and took advantage of 14 unforced errors by the German to seal the first set in 31 minutes.
Lisicki's booming serve never functioned smoothly and Bartoli kept the ball away from her dangerous forehand to move within one set of her first grand slam title.
Lisicki left the court to try to compose herself and held serve in the opening game of the second set but wasted four break points in Bartoli's first service game and the latter pounced to break for a 2-1 lead.
Struggling to hold back tears, Lisicki dropped her serve again to trail 1-4 and Bartoli had three match points at 5-1.
The German bravely saved them, however, and suddenly found her form, breaking Bartoli to trail 3-5 and holding serve comfortably to raise hopes of an unlikely comeback.
But Bartoli regrouped and held serve to love, sealing her first grand slam title on her fourth match point with her sixth ace after one hour 21 minutes.
As an emotional Lisicki sat in her chair Bartoli clambered into the stands to embrace her entourage which included father and former coach Walter and Mauresmo.
"I was just overwhelmed by this whole situation," Lisicki, who was undone by 25 unforced errors, said. "Credit to Marion, she has been there before and she handled it perfectly."
Bartoli's triumph after 47 grand slam appearances beats the previous record held by Czech Jana Novotna who won Wimbledon in 1998 in what was her 45th appearance. She will climb to seventh when the latest world rankings are released tomorrow.
Frenchwoman Bartoli, seeded 15th, took full advantage of a desperately nervous performance by her German opponent who knocked out defending champion Serena Williams in the fourth round.
Bartoli, 28, became the first French player to win a grand slam title since Amelie Mauresmo in 2006, finally breaking her major trophy drought at the 47th attempt.
"As a small girl I dreamed about this moment," Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon runner-up to American Venus Williams, said in a courtside interview at the All England Club after lifting the Venus Rosewater dish.
"Finishing with an ace to win Wimbledon, even in my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined that. Honestly, I cannot believe it. Have practiced my serve for so long, at least I kept it for the best moment!"
Lisicki, the 23rd seed, broke Bartoli's serve in the opening game of the match but the Frenchwoman hit straight back and took advantage of 14 unforced errors by the German to seal the first set in 31 minutes.
Lisicki's booming serve never functioned smoothly and Bartoli kept the ball away from her dangerous forehand to move within one set of her first grand slam title.
Lisicki left the court to try to compose herself and held serve in the opening game of the second set but wasted four break points in Bartoli's first service game and the latter pounced to break for a 2-1 lead.
Struggling to hold back tears, Lisicki dropped her serve again to trail 1-4 and Bartoli had three match points at 5-1.
The German bravely saved them, however, and suddenly found her form, breaking Bartoli to trail 3-5 and holding serve comfortably to raise hopes of an unlikely comeback.
But Bartoli regrouped and held serve to love, sealing her first grand slam title on her fourth match point with her sixth ace after one hour 21 minutes.
As an emotional Lisicki sat in her chair Bartoli clambered into the stands to embrace her entourage which included father and former coach Walter and Mauresmo.
"I was just overwhelmed by this whole situation," Lisicki, who was undone by 25 unforced errors, said. "Credit to Marion, she has been there before and she handled it perfectly."
Bartoli's triumph after 47 grand slam appearances beats the previous record held by Czech Jana Novotna who won Wimbledon in 1998 in what was her 45th appearance. She will climb to seventh when the latest world rankings are released tomorrow.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
