I shall be properly looking forward to the final now. And hoping that Lisicki can walk away with the title of course.

 

It was such a tense match earlier, especially when Radwanska went ahead twice and almost took it. If Sabine pulls this again in the final I might have no nails left by the end.

Sabine was looking down the barrel of a gun for a while there. Radwanska was much more consistent throughout (her flexibility and agility round court is just amazing) but not quite as great when it really mattered. Fab match.

 

I love Lisicki, and her near annual amazing runs at Wimbledon are always wonderful, but it's got to the stage where she almost seems to be imitating Venus in her later years. She plays amazingly at Wimbledon and you think "oh she's definitely going to break through now", and then by the time Wimbledon rolls around again she's exactly where she was the year before. I'm definitely rooting for her in the final (especially when Bartoli of all people is the opponent?!) but I am sure she'll be ~#20 in the world this time next year, again.

Lisicki plays her best game (by far) at Wimbledon though. She's one of the best five or so players on grass, but not on other surfaces. So she probably will tumble down the rankings. Still, after this week she's at least #11 in the world depending on the outcome of the final!

 

That's true, but I would just like her to be an actual top player rather than one who is a threat once a year. Everyone has their preferred surface but most improve on their less favoured ones over time. Sabine gets better and better on grass but seems to be making little to no progress everywhere else, which is a tad frustrating.

 

Still, I suppose I should be grateful she's done this well. Better than most of my faves (bloody Petrova!) usually do.

Lisicki just doesn't really have the game to do anything away from grass. She relies on winning her points by booming down some huge serves or one or two big groundstrokes, which she can get away with on grass, because the surface plays so quickly, but on the slower surfaces where her opponents have time to get her serves or first few big shots back in play, she's very prone to making errors as the rallies get longer. On grass though, she can sometimes be near-unbeatable. She's a bit like Goran Ivanisevic from the 90s, the ultimate grasscourt specialist, who's big serve brought him loads of big Wimbledon runs but didn't make him a contender on any other surfaces.

 

For all it seemed like the women's tournament had fallen apart, this is actually a decent final with two of the best grasscourt players of recent years!

Edited July 5, 201312 yr by Danny

Matches like that first men's semi just now are basically the reason I follow tense. More DRAMA than six months worth of EastEnders in that 5+ hour epic. I really thought Del Potro had a chance of coming through in the final set! Stunning, breathtaking, flawless performances from both today.

 

They could have continued without the roof been closed, there is still enough good light, just as Murray was on a roll.

They could have continued without the roof been closed, there is still enough good light, just as Murray was on a roll.

 

We were all screaming at the pub as the sound was off and we had no idea what was going on. We thought he was getting points taken off/disqualified! :lol:

This is absolutely heartbreaking for Lisicki, really really heartbreaking :(

Not so much now! :D Love love loving the last three games.

 

edit: dying again

 

edit2: well, I'm happy for Bartoli at least! Sabine should be proud of herself.

This is absolutely heartbreaking for Lisicki, really really heartbreaking :(

 

:(

 

It makes it worse that she's crying, I feel so bad for her. She really deserved this.

Sabine was a mess today. Choking back tears while playing a point? It just wasn't happening for her. She was beginning to find some form toward the end but even then Marion was playing better. Terrific performance from her. Shame it wasn't a more close-run final.

 

Well done Bartoli! A deserved Wimbledon champion after she lost a final years ago! Shame for Lisicki though but hardly her best match.

The emotion just got the best of her, I'm sure she will be cheered on heavily next year though! Lovely girl.

Yeah, credit where it's due. Bartoli brought her best, and Lisicki brought her worst. She was just so overwhelmed by the whole situation - I'm glad she managed to pull it back to 6-4 in the final set, but the result was only going one way.

 

I've never been one who really gets engaged in the women's game, I'm way more focused on the men's game. But Lisicki has really made the women's game exciting and made me want to watch it. Hopefully she gets another chance in the final because she wasn't close here today :(

Nice win for Bartoli she was the better player, Lisicki just fell to pieces.

Congratulations to Marion, well deserved victory and a really nice interview at the end. I loved the appreciation both Sabine and Marion had for each other during the interview and going off the court together at the end.

 

I felt so sorry for Sabine when she was trying to hold back the tears but despite that, she was constantly smiling and to get to her first Grand Slam final is a fantastic achievement in itself as well as beating the #1 seed in Serena and #4 seed in Agnieszka Radwanska. Great to see her still signing plenty of autographs, she stayed out even longer than Marion! I really think Sabine will win a Grand Slam, hopefully it'll be Wimbledon 2014! Such a lovely girl! :wub:

It wasn't Sabine's best game. :( Hopefully she can come back stronger next year; she should still have a future on grass anyway.

 

Congrats to Bartoli though, she deserved that match entirely.

Bartoli was AMAZING during that match - she deserves that 100%!!!! :wub:

 

I've been a loyal fan of her for many years and it's so great to finally see her get some success!!!