Wimbledon 2013 draws to a unmissable conclusion this weekend and BBC Sport will screen all the on-court drama as it unfolds exclusively live from Centre Court.
After so many shocks and surprises in this year’s Championships, with many of the big names crashing out in the early rounds, Saturday’s showpiece ladies’ singles final features Germany’s Sabine Lisicki and Marion Bartoli of France.
Lisicki will begin the match as favourite to lift the Venus Rosewater Dish, having progressed to the showpiece occasion on the back of victories over high-calibre opponents.
On her incredible Wimbledon run so far, the German has beaten Sam Stosur, defending champion Serena Williams, Kaia Kanepi and last year’s runner-up Agnieszka Radwanska.
Lisicki came back from 3-0 down in the final set to see off the Polish fourth seed 6-4 2-6 9-7 in their thrilling semi-final encounter.
The 23-year-old becomes the first German to reach the Wimbledon final since seven-time champion Steffi Graf in 1999.
However, Frenchwoman Marion Bartoli is perhaps the more experienced of the two competitors and has appeared in a Wimbledon final once before, when she finished as runner-up to Venus Williams in 2007.
Bartoli, the 15th seed, swept past Belgian Kirsten Flipkens in a hugely one-sided affair, 6-1 6-2, to reach her second final at SW19.
Last year, Serena Williams collected the famous prize for a fifth time in memorable fashion after overcoming a resilient Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland in three sets.
In doing so, she became the first woman aged over 30 to win the title since Martina Navratilova.
Only two ladies have been more successful than Serena in the Open era – Steffi Graf, with seven wins, and Navratilova, with nine.
Then on Sunday, the eagerly anticipated men’s singles final takes place between Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray.
These two met in the final of the US Open last year, with Murray eventually coming out on top to win his maiden Grand Slam title, but Djokovic starts as favourite having impressed throughout the tournament to justify his number one seeding.
Murray and millions of fans across the country will be hoping for Britain’s 77-year-wait for a men’s champion comes to an end on Sunday.
The final will be the third in the last four Grand Slams involving Murray and Djokovic, with the Briton winning his first major title at last year’s US Open and the Serb winning his sixth at the Australian Open in January.
Djokovic, a week younger than Murray, has an 11-7 record in previous matches between the pair, but was extended over nearly five hours in his semi-final win against Juan Martin Del Potro, while the Scot needed under three hours to beat Jerzy Janowicz.
Murray can take confidence from a 17-match winning streak on grass that includes his only meeting with Djokovic on the surface, a straight-sets win in last year’s Olympic semi-final.
However, he has won just one of his five previous Grand Slam finals compared to Djokovic’s six wins in 10 major finals, which include victory at Wimbledon two years ago.
All 15,000 tickets for Centre Court have already been sold and a TV audience of more than 15 million is expected to tune in for the final.
This follows BBC One’s coverage peaking at 13.2 million for Murray’s semi-final win – the highest BBC TV figures so far in 2013.
Twelve months ago, Murray became the first Britain for 76 years to make the Wimbledon men’s final, but it was the great Roger Federer who ultimately went on to secure his record-equalling seventh title at SW19, seeing off Murray in four sets.
Whose turn will it be this year?
Sue Barker will present live coverage across BBC TV as one of the most surprising and unpredictable Wimbledon Championships in recent times draws to a close.
Both the men’s and women’s singles finals will be live in their entirety on BBC One and BBC HD, while BBC Two will showcase the doubles finals on Saturday and Sunday.
Commentary on the women’s final will come from Mark Petchey, John McEnroe and Lindsay Davenport, plus pre-match analysis from Martina Navratilova and Tracy Austin.
Andrew Castle, Boris Becker and Tim Henman will commentate on Sunday’s men’s final, with John McEnroe joining the BBC TV team during the build-up.
Highlights of each day’s action will be shown in Today at Wimbledon, presented by John Inverdale, on BBC Two at 8.00pm (11.35pm on Sunday, July 7).
As well as the usual extensive network TV coverage, up to 10 live streams will be available through Connected TVs, online and mobile, including the latest news, highlights and videos, plus three extra live streams via BBC Red Button on TV.
These extra streams over the final four days will feature action from the various doubles, juniors and wheelchair tournaments.
If you have a 3D TV, coverage of the men’s/women’s semi-finals and final will also be shown in 3D on selected platforms via BBC Red Button (scroll down below for more details).
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TOURNAMENT DRAWS LIVE SCORES OFFICIAL WEBSITE
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DAY 13: SUNDAY 5th JULY – FINALS
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Centre Court 14:00 BST| [1] (SRB) Novak DJOKOVIC. | v | Andy MURRAY (GBR) [2] |
| [1] (BRA) Soares / (USA) Raymond. | v | Nestor (CAN) / Mladenovic (FRA) [8] |
On the eve of the Championships’ concluding weekend, the BBC has confirmed it will broadcast both the men’s and women’s semi-finals and finals live in 3D to homes across the UK, as part of the BBC’s two-year trial experimenting with 3D production and distribution.
The free-to-air 3D coverage will be available to those with access to a 3D TV set and to the BBC’s HD Red Button service on certain platforms.
Six additional 3D cameras placed around Centre Court will help broadcast the enhanced action. Line-calls decided by Hawk-Eye and graphics will all be shown in 3D.
This is one of a small number of 3D TV editorial experiments the BBC is currently undertaking, which has also included selected coverage from last year’s Wimbledon Championships and the London 2012 Olympic Games.
Kim Shillinglaw, Head of BBC 3D, says: “We’re delighted to provide live 3D coverage from the biggest matches of this year’s Wimbledon.
“Major UK sporting events are a big part of our trials with 3D content and this allows us to build on our work from previous Wimbledon Championships and the London 2012 Olympics.”
Mick Desmond, Commercial Director of the All England Club, says: “We are always looking at ways to improve the Wimbledon experience and the 3D TV trials will allow us to do that by exploring the boundaries of live sporting television.”
Wimbledon 3D will be available on the BBC Red Button HD channel via Freeview HD (channel 303), Virgin Media (994), Freesat (980) and Youview (303). It will not be available on Sky.
The BBC has been delivering its most comprehensive digital coverage of Wimbledon this year, increasing the number of live streams available across four screens – PCs, mobiles, tablets and connected TVs – from a maximum of six in 2012 to a maximum of 10 this year.
In addition, up to three streams will be available through the Red Button for viewers on cable and satellite and Digital Terrestrial TV.
CLICK HERE for full details on the BBC’s coverage of Wimbledon 2013
