Two more different players would have been hard to find even if the organisers of Wimbledon had scourged the world ten times over. Not to mention that at the start of the tournament, no one really expected Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki to make up the final line-up. Serena Williams, who apart from reclaiming the number one spot earlier also won her second crown at Roland Garros, was the overwhelming favourite to clinch her sixth crown at South West 19, London. But, Lisicki, an incredibly talented player who lost to Angelique Kerber in the quarter-final after she had beaten Maria Sharapova in the round of 16 finally managed to hold her nerve to make it to the final.
Lisicki's fragile disposition and impulsive nature apart, her wry smile has endeared her to the crowd at Wimbledon and there is little doubt as to whom the spectators at Centre Court will cheer for come the final. If one fact became glaringly apparent in the nerve-wracking thriller against Agnieszka Radwanska, it was that Lisicki is not wont to playing the waiting game. Impetuous as she is, she doesn't like to prolong a rally and goes for the kill very early in the point. While her penchant to go for winners very early in the point has seen her commit a whole host of unforced errors, it has also been her USP. An attacking player, she found the going immensely hard against Radwanska, who seemed to possess the inherent ability to dictate the pace of a rally and knew exactly when and how to finish the point. Among her other weaknesses is her inability to disguise the drop shot, which might see her losing many a battle against Bartoli, who is a superb mover on the Court.
Lisicki's terrific serve is a weapon that Bartoli will have to reckon with. If Lisicki has her back to the wall, she is not going to hesitate to send a strong second serve. She has also returned serves with astounding alacrity in the tournament so far and that particular aspect is going to come in handy against Bartoli. Against the second serve, Lisicki has stepped forward and when the ball has sat up asking to be hit, she has dispatched it with venom. But the one thing she will have to watch in the final is the number in the unforced errors' column. The number was a tad bit too high in the semi-final, as was the number of winners, and she will do well to curb her tendency for extravagance.
On the other hand, Marion Bartoli, the 2007 Wimbledon finalist, seems to have undergone a major transformation for the jumpy Bartoli, who beat Justine Henin in the semi-final of Wimbledon six years ago before she was defeated in straight sets by Venus Williams in the final, bears little resemblance to the calm and composed player who has held the crowd at Wimbledon in thrall with her own special brand of tennis for the last fortnight.
While her double handed forehand does make it a bit cumbersome for her to angle the ball, it enables her to load that additional power onto the ball. Her build might belie it, but Bartoli is an excellent mover around the court and if she plays her cards right, it will be she who will dictate the rallies against Lisicki, who likes to hurry through her points.
Her serve, although much improved, is not really a formidable weapon and against someone who returns as well as Lisicki, it is bound to be a liability. A deceptive candidate, her double-fisted backhand and forehand do not handicap her ability to deceive her opponents. She has some powerful ground strokes and cobbled with some amazing drop shots that she has in her repertoire, she does have the gravitas to make it big.