2013 Wimbledon Ladies’ Tennis Championship
#15 Marion Bartoli vs #23 Sabine Lisicki
Saturday, July 6, 2013, 9:00 am Eastern, TV: ESPN
All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club – Wimbledon, England
Playing Surface: Grass
Betting Line: Lisicki -215 / Bartoli +175 (odds courtesy of Bookmaker)
Coming into Wimbledon, Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka had combined to win the last six majors. however all three were gone by the fourth round. Those upsets opened up the draw for some lesser known players. In fact, the four semifinalists had never won a major before. Now, either #15 seed Marion Bartoli or #23 Sabine Lisicki will win their first grand slam title Saturday.
Lisicki is 23 from Germany. She is 20-12 this season with runner-ups at KIttaya City and Memphis. She lost in the first round at the Australian Open and the third at the French Open. Prior to this year her best ever finish at a major was in 2001 when she made the semis at Wimbledon. She has never made it past the fourth round at any other major.
At Wimbledon this year, Lisicki beat former French Open champion Francesca Schiavone in the first round, Elena Vesnina, former US Open champ #14 Samantha Stosur in the third, and upset #1 Serena Williams in the fourth r0und, despite Lisicki being down 3-0 in the third set. Lisicki beat Kaia Kanepi in straight sets in the quarters, and then beat #4 Agnieszka Radwanska in three sets in the semifinals. Lisicki won the first set 6-4, and lost the second to Radwanska 6-2. Lisicki would survive a marathon third set by winning 9-7.
Bartoli is 28 from France. She is 14-12 this season and hadn’t made it past the quarters of any event this season before Wimbledon. She lost in the third round at both the Australian and French Opens. Bartoli has battled injury and illness all season. Her best ever finish at a major was a runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007. She has made it at least to the quarters of every major at least once.
Bartoli has yet to drop a set at Wimbledon this year, but she does have several 7-5 sets. Bartoli beat Elina Svitolina in the first round, Christina McHale in the second, Camila Giorgi in the third, Karen Knapp in the fourth, #17 Sloane Stephens in the quarters, and #20 Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals. The match took just over an hour.
Bartoli and Lisicki have only played 4 times in their career. Lisicki leads the series 3-1 and has won 3 straight matches against Bartoli. The two have met twice previously at Wimbledon. Bartoli beat a then 18 year old Lisicki in straight sets in the first round in 2008. It was Lisicki’s first ever match at the All-England Club. Lisicki would beat Bartoli in three sets in the 2011 Wimbledon quarterfinals. they have not played since that match.
Lisicki loves playing on the grass but struggles on clay or hard courts. That is why her ranking is lower than it probably should be. Bartoli is decent on all three surfaces and is a former top 10 player. She is still a top 15 player but inconsistent play and injuries have dropped her ranking slightly. Lisicki’s deadly serve and return game should be enough to survive a tough 3 setter.
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