Marion Bartoli of France and Sabine Lisicki of Germany have played the best tennis of their careers at the All England Club,and on Saturday,Bartoli and Lisicki will meet in the Wimbledon final,each trying to win her first Grand Slam title. It will be first time since 1998 that the Wimbledon womens final will feature two players bidding for their first major championship. Their journeys to the final were different. Bartoli,the No. 15 seed,did not face a seed higher than No. 17 Sloane Stephens in the half of a draw vacated by No. 2 Victoria Azarenka and No. 3 Maria Sharapova. Bartoli has not lost a set in the tournament,easily dispatching No. 20 Kirsten Flipkens,6-1,6-2,in in their semifinal. The No. 23 seed,Lisicki,defeated No. 14 seed Sam Stosur,No. 1 seed Serena Williams and,on Thursday,No. 4 seed Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4,2-6,9-7. I had a tough draw,but I think it made me ready for each and every single match, she said,adding,I gained so much confidence also in my shots and playing long rallies,she said Lisicki is the first German to reach the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999. Lisicki said Graf sent her a good-luck text message before the match. Lisicki,23,will be competing in her first Grand Slam final. Bartoli,28,has not been to a Grand Slam final since she was the runner-up at Wimbledon in 2007. This year has been challenging for Bartoli,as she parted ways with her father as her coach and overcame injuries and ailments. Before Thursday,she had not played in a semifinal of a tournament this year. The final will pit Lisickis big-serve game against Bartolis aggressive return game. Lisicki is 3-1 against Bartoli,having won the last three matches. But they have not played since Wimbledon in 2011,when the 62nd-ranked Lisicki upset the ninth-ranked Bartoli in the quarterfinals. On Saturday,one of them will have a chance to achieve a dream deferred.
