Marion Bartoli defeated Sabine Lisicki in the final, 6–1, 6–4 to win the ladies' singles tennis title at the 2013 Wimbledon Championships. It was her first and only major title. Bartoli did not lose a set during the tournament, or face a tiebreak in any set. She was the first French major champion since Amélie Mauresmo at the 2006 Wimbledon Championships.[1] By winning her first major title on her 47th appearance, she broke the previous women's record of 45, set by Jana Novotná in 1998, for most appearances in majors before winning a title.[2] This was also Bartoli's last major appearance, as she retired from professional tennis the following month. This made her the first woman to win a major at her last appearance since Ann Jones won the 1969 Wimbledon Championships.
Serena Williams was the defending champion, but lost to Lisicki in the fourth round, ending a 34-match winning streak dating back to the Miami Open. This was the fourth consecutive occasion where Lisicki defeated the reigning French Open champion at Wimbledon, following victories over Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009, Li Na in 2011, and Maria Sharapova in 2012 (Lisicki did not play at Wimbledon in 2010).
The exits of Li Na and Petra Kvitová in the quarterfinals ensured a first-time major champion.[3] Lisicki was the first German woman to contest a major final since Steffi Graf at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships, while Bartoli was the first Frenchwoman to contest a major final since herself in 2007. The final marked the second time in the Open Era, after 1998, that neither Wimbledon finalist had won a major before.