Battle of the maidens offers surprise twist Sabine Lisicki's progress through the tournament has been nothing if not honest. In this least expected Wimbledon final, the key is to ascertain which of the contestants would be less surprising as a first-time winner. Like the tournament itself, it is an unpredictable process of elimination. Sabine Lisicki is the 24th and last seed, and would be the lowest-ranked player to win Wimbledon. She is not even the top-rated German. But she is a Wimbledon specialist. Since she first became conscious of tennis and Steffi Graf, she had dreamed of winning on what she calls "that beautiful centre court." Her record at Wimbledon is 19-4, at the other three majors 16-15. As if marking her territory, in her past four appearances at Wimbledon, she has put out the reigning French Open champion. Two years ago, as a wildcard, she reached the semi-finals. Now she is in the final. In her affinity with Wimbledon, she could be thought of as a mini Venus Williams, who won five of her nine major titles here, including two when seeded in double digits. Marion Bartoli has not lost a set in this tournament yet. Lisicki's game might have been tailored to Wimbledon's grass. She has the second-biggest serve in women's tennis behind Serena Williams, and in the signal match of the tournament, she was too powerful even for Williams. She has hit more clean winners in this tournament than anyone else. But she is not all brawn; she uses the drop shot as adroitly as anyone. Her progress through the tournament has been nothing if not honest. She beat three previous major winners, including Williams and Sam Stosur, as well as Elena Vesnina, the winner of the lead-in tournament at Eastbourne, and in an epic semi-final, fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who took defeat as well as cod liver oil. Lisicki has endeared herself to Wimbledon crowds as the sterner Graf never did and no German has since Boris Becker. The London tabloids have restrained themselves; not one war analogy has been seen, although it is probably as well she is not playing Andy Murray. Marion Bartoli must have thought she was playing Murray for a moment in her quarter-final against Sloane Stephens. When rain began to tumble down, she sensibly insisted on stopping play, bringing down on herself the crowd's opprobrium. To her, it was water off a duck's back. She will be the underdog in this final, although it does seem cruel to ask a British crowd to choose between a German and a Frenchwoman. Bartoli managed to get to the semi-finals almost sight unseen. In one way, at 170 centimetres, she is easily overlooked. In another, she stands out, her game is one of the quirkiest on tour. She hits her shots double-handed on both sides, which, combined with her squat stature, gives her the appearance of an ever-scuttling Dalek. Her between-points routine is unique, too; she jumps and bounces on her toes, and swats lustily at phantom balls. In a big court, it becomes a sideshow. Crucially, it works. Bartoli played in a Wimbledon final in 2007, losing to Venus Williams, and has been a fixture in the top 20 ever since. She has a winning record against other players in that bracket, and three wins over No. 1-ranked players. She has not lost a set in this tournament yet, although the only seeded players she has met are Stephens and Kirsten Flipkens. In 2007, because of a backlog of fixtures, she had to play her semi-final - against Justine Henin, then No. 1 - and final against Venus Williams on consecutive days, and was exhausted. This year, she was so little extended by poor Flipkens in their semi-final that she went off to practise afterwards. In any case, she believes she is an improved player from 2007. "I think if I would play myself now with my game six years ago compared with my game today, I would probably be beating myself quite easily," she said. Moreover, she thinks she deserves a break. She has toiled through difficulties, including a break-up this year with Walter, her father and coach - sound familiar? - and prides herself never to have wavered or frowned. "I felt like those kind of attitudes should be rewarded at some point," she said. And I believe in true determination and hard work. She is working now with Amelie Mauresmo and Thomas Drouet, most recently the hitting partner of John Tomic. But her father will be at the final. So, the tall, blonde German with the classic game, the shorter, darker Frenchwoman with the efficacious game, both maidens in majors. In the context of this most random of Wimbledons, whoever you think might win, back the other. Or a retirement.