Monumental meltdown by tearful Lisicki

Sabine Lisicki insists she can still achieve her dream of winning a Grand Slam title even if the bare statistics of her up and down career threatened to conspire against her.

The 23-year-old German had won the hearts of Centre Court with her smiling, storming run to the Wimbledon final as she knocked out three Grand Slam champions - Serena Williams, Francesca Schiavone and Samantha Stosur.

But her world collapsed in spectacular style in Saturday's final against Marion Bartoli, her 6-1, 6-4 loss punctuated by floods of tears and ugly errors before she broke down and sobbed at the trophy presentation.

With the likes of Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka both exiting Wimbledon in the first week, Lisicki confronted the bitter realization that her best chance at a major might have disappeared in an 81-minute rout.

Her record at Wimbledon is an impressive 19-5 but a woeful 16-15 at the three other Slams, suggesting that Melbourne, Paris and New York will always remain out of reach.

In 2013, Lisicki fell in the first round of the Australian Open and the third round of the French Open.

Outside of Wimbledon, where she was also a semi-finalist in 2011 and a quarter-finalist in 2009 and 2012, her Grand Slam performances have been underwhelming throughout her six-year career.

A fourth round run at the 2012 Australian Open remains her best effort.

"I'm really looking forward to playing a lot of tournaments. I'm very happy that I'm healthy. That's been a struggle in the past," said a defiant Lisicki.

"But this year I've been getting much, much better, and much more consistent because I was healthy. I think that's one thing that will help me to perform better at the other tournaments."

Despite her poor record away from the All-England Club, Lisicki believes that Bartoli has set an example for her.

The 28-year-old Frenchwoman won her first major in her 47th Grand Slam appearance, a record for the women's tour.

But Bartoli had already been a finalist when she was runner-up to Venus Williams at Wimbledon in 2007 at 22, a year younger than Lisicki is now.

"I still believe in it. I did believe in it in the beginning of the tournament that anything is possible. I'm getting better with each tournament, with each year that I'm on tour," added the German.

"So that's something I think will help me for the future. I really believe that this experience this year, as hard as it was today, will help me in the future."

(China Daily 07/08/2013 page24)