Both Wimbledon finalists will be fighting their emotions in what should be a momentous duel, with the American well placed for a 24th slam
When Sabine Lisicki lost the final at Wimbledon to Marion Bartoli in 2013, she could not control the flow of tears that showed her desolation. Within 41 days Bartoli had retired, at only 28, after losing to Simona Halep in Cincinnati, unable to stand the aggregated pain of a long career, becoming the first Wimbledon champion not to defend her title since the 1969 winner, Ann Jones.
The antagonists in the final six years ago handled the aftermath in their own ways. Bartoli contemplated a comeback, thought better of it and found a home in the commentary box, while “Boom Boom” Lisicki, the fastest server in the game between 2014 and 2016 at 130mph, never quite got back the magic. At the Australian Open this year, and only 29, she went out in the first round of qualifying, for the third time on the spin at a slam.
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