Wimbledon 2013: Talking points from Ladies final day

Marion Bartoli of France poses with the Venus Rosewater Dish trophy next to Sabine Lisicki of Germany and her runner-up trophy after their Ladies’ Singles final of the WimbledonChampionships at the All England Club on July 6, 2013 in London, England. (Getty Images)

Was this the worst women’s Wimbledon of the century?

It’s certainly a very contentious statement to make. How can a tournament with so many twists and turns be considered the worst over 13 years! And granted I’ve only really invested in watching in the last seven years but I like to judge a tournament’s prestige on how good the matches are in the second week.

But when a semi-final line-up consists of Bartoli, Lisicki, Kristen Flipkens and Radwanska and is missing the big names of Williams, Azarenka and Sharapova and other names such as Kvitova underperformed, it doesn’t exactly whet your appetite.

The Lisicki vs. Radwanska match aside, the matches involving Bartoli were utter blowouts to watch as a spectacle. And that is not a criticism of Bartoli. She played very well while her opponents completely bombed.

Even though the early round upsets of the big names mentioned is great to build interest in a sometimes dead first week, it backfires badly some the crunch time of a tournament. You want either the best names playing their best tennis or the unpredictability of a match like Azarenka vs. Williams for example.

And in terms of actual name value to the final, a Williams has contested the final of 11 of the 13 other finals aside from yesterday and the other two featured Sharapova, Justine Henin, Amelie Mauresmo and Kvitova – all great names. It might be a disservice but Bartoli and Lisicki just doesn’t thrill me.

I’ve been pretty scathing on this tournament so far but to be fair there have been some good matches involving Radwanska against Li Na and Lisicki, and of course Lisicki’s upset against Williams was at times brilliant to watch.

Flipkens’ Cinderella story was also heart-warming to behold and Bartoli’s victory was a victory for outstanding personalities triumphing. And the sheer unpredictability of this tournament has also been a refreshing break from the Serena monopoly we all predicted at the start of the tournament.

But at the crunch time of the tournament, the lack of great tennis matches – not star names – cost this tournament dearly at the end. I’m sure I’m being a bit too reactive at this stage but at this stage Wimbledon 2013 has left me a little empty.