MARION BARTOLI SURPRISINGLY TRIUMPHES IN WIMBLEDON WOMEN`S SINGLES

Prior to Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli had never gone past the Quarterfinals at a WTA event in 2013. She hadn`t won a title since October 2011 and hadn`t reached the final of a Major since her first appearance in the 2007 Wimbledon final, when she lost 6-4 6-1 to Venus Williams after having upset Justine Henin in the semifinals.

A viral infection forced her to withdraw before her 2nd round match at Eastbourne in the build up to Wimbledon, so there were very few encouraging signs for the French. But, once again, Tennis proved to be a sport where things can change quickly. You win a couple of early rounds, get confidence, start playing as relaxed as ever before, the level of your game raises match after match, you get a little lucky with the draw and here you are lifting the Venus Rosewater Dish without dropping a set.

Despite Bartoli`s impeccable route to the final, Sabine Lisicki had the odds in her favor partly due to her positive head to head record 3-1 (they were 1-1 at Wimbledon, having Baroli won their  1st round clash in 2008 and Lisicki the quarterfinals in 2011), but mostly because of the impressive performances the German displayed through a very tough draw. She beat in succession: Francesca Schiavone (2010 French Open champion), Elena Vesnina (recent winner in Eastbourne, the most important pre-Wimbledon event), Samantha Stosur (13th seed and 2011 US Open Champion), Serena Williams (1st seed, reigning champion and…well we can`t list here Serena`s complete resume), Kaia Kanepi  and Agnieszka Radwanska (4th seed and 2012 Wimbledon finalist). Bartoli, on the contrary, reached the final without facing any opponent ranked higher than 17th, Sloane Stephens. In the 130 years of the Women`s Singles history, nobody, before Bartoli, had ever won the tournament without facing any player ranked within the top 16 seeds (Lisicki was ranked 23rd).

Both players knew they would hardly get a better chance of winning a Major and were understandably tense at the beginning of the match. Bartoli dropped her serve in the opening game, committing 2 double faults in the last 2 points. Then it was Lisicki`s turn to close her first service game with a double fault. However, from then on, Bartoli managed to regroup and started playing her best tennis while the German, who probably struggled to handle the pressure of being the favorite despite playing her first Major final, performed considerably below the standards she set during the tournament. Lisicki still led most of the rallies but was too erratic. She had 14 errors and only 8 winners in the 1st set.  By the end of the match she had 21 and 25 (-4) against the average of +10.5 she achieved in her previous 6 matches. Also on her serve, from converting 72% of the 1st serve and 48% of the 2nd she dropped considerably to 52% and 39% respectively in the final.

Lisicki finally held in the 1st game of the 2nd set and seemed to be on the verge of turning the match in her favor during the following game.  But, after saving 4 break points, Bartoli managed to hold serve before breaking Lisicki twice to speed to a 5-1 lead. Lisicki, who stressfully broke down in tears at 3-1 down, eventually saved 3 match points to hold serve at 2-5. Bartoli seemed to lose confidence and, despite being again 2 points away from the title, she lost her serve to quickly find herself at 5-4 with only one last chance of serving for the match. At that moment, however, she recovered her composure and held serve without dropping a point. She closed the match with an ace before falling to the ground in joy and disbelief. Her serve, in the past a liability at times, proved to be the key to her success. In the final she increased the already very good percentages she had during the tournament from a 60% of 1st serves in and 65% of points won on the 1st serve to an outstanding 67% and 79%.

Bartoli will now move from 15th to 7th in the WTA Ranking equaling her career high and having a good chance of reaching the top 5, especially if she keeps her momentum going during the North American hard-court season.

In the Men`s Doubles, the Bryan brothers defeated Ivan Dodig and Marcelo Melo to clinch a record 15th Grand Slam title. The Americans now hold all 4 Majors and, should they win at the US Open in September, they would become only the 2nd team in history to achieve the Men`s Doubles Grand Slam, succeeding to the Australians Kevin McGregor and Frank Sedgman who accomplished it in 1951.

The tournament will reach its climax tomorrow with the Men`s Singles final between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray. It is expected to be a blockbuster since it fields the 2 best players in the world according to the ranking and considering they are facing each other for the 3rd time in the last 4 Majors`  finals.

Djokovic leads the head to head 11-7, but they are 7-7 taking only the last 5 years into consideration. Nole has won the last 3 meetings, including the Australian Open final in January, but Murray won at the US Open in 2012 and also prevailed in their only encounter on grass at the last year`s Olympic Games.

It is a 50-50 match with the two rivals having pretty much the same statistics so far. Djokovic dropped 2 sets (in the Semifinals against Del Potro), Murray 3 (2 against Verdasco and 1 against Janowicz). The Serb has a +27 winners/unforced errors differential, the Scot has +26. They both totaled a 65% of 1st serves in, converting 83% and 81% respectively of the points on the 1st serve. The key factor for Murray will probably be how aggressive he can play on Djokovic`s 2nd serve. The Serb had an impressive 72% of points won on the 2nd serve prior to the Semis, but suffered against Del Potro`s aggressive returns winning a mere 39%. On the other hand, Djokovic should try to dictate the points as much as possible and prevent the Scot from leading the rallies. Murray has in fact lost all the sets in which his opponent has produced more winners than him.