A fascinating clash of styles

France's Bartoli takes on big-hitting Lisicki in final

A clash of styles featuring an unorthodox Frenchwoman and a smooth powerful German will play out when Marion Bartoli and Sabine Lisicki bid to etch their names on to the Wimbledon honours board on Saturday.

Yet the unpredictability of either reaching the final at the outset is where any similarity between the two ends.

Lisicki, who has a near-permanent smile stretched across her face, has a gameplan that has become conventional on the nippy lawns of the All England Club - a hammerhead serve, backed up by walloping forehands. Bartoli, however, is one of the most unorthodox players on the tour. A whirl of perpetual motion, she leaps from foot to foot practising air shots and has an odd repertoire of mannerisms.

She is a bundle of nervous energy that frequently explodes through her double-fisted forehands and backhands.

While 23rd seed Lisicki has captured the hearts of the home fans, Bartoli is almost surly on court, in contrast to the cheery personality she displays when the action is done and dusted.

They both prepare for battle in very different ways.

Bartoli enjoys a power nap and slept for 20 minutes before she strode out to beat Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in her semifinal.  Lisicki cranks up the volume on her ipod, with "Play Hard" by David Guetta her preferred choice of listening.

Lisicki certainly has the tools to become a regular feature at the business end of Wimbledon and, at 23, has many years left in her.

For someone with an allergy to grass, she has a game that is perfectly suited to the surface. She has a 19-4 win-loss record at the All England Club compared with 16-15 at the other Slams. Nicknamed "Boom Boom Bina", the girl who overcame a career-threatening ankle injury in 2010 which forced her off the tour for five months, is the first German woman to reach a Grand Slam final since the great Steffi Graf at Wimbledon in 1999.