Sport

Bartoli claims first Grand Slam title at Wimbledon

French player has it easy against out of sorts Lisicki

France’s Marion Bartoli falls to her knees after beating Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in their women’s singles final at Wimbledon. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
France’s Marion Bartoli falls to her knees after beating Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in their women’s singles final at Wimbledon. Photograph: Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters
Sat Jul 06 2013 - 15:59

Marion Bartoli overwhelmed an out of sorts Sabine Lisicki 6-1 6-4 on a sun-drenched Centre Court to win her first Wimbledon title on Saturday.

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.

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 secure the opening set in 31 minutes.

Lisicki’s booming serve never functioned smoothly and Bartoli, seeded 15th, kept the ball away from her dangerous forehand to move within one set of her first Grand Slam title.

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Lisicki left the court to try to compose herself and held serve in the opening game of the second set but she wasted four break points in Bartoli’s first service game and the Frenchwoman pounced to break for a 2-1 lead.

Struggling to hold back tears, Lisicki dropped her serve again to trail 4-1 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 the 28-year-old Bartoli regrouped and held serve to love, sealing her first Grand Slam title on her fourth match point with her sixth ace.