LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - German wildcard Sabine Lisicki added another gripping chapter to her remarkable Wimbledon story when she recovered from wasting three match points to beat Marion Bartoli 6-4 6-7 6-1 under the Centre Court roof in an enthralling quarter-final on
Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, out of action for five months last year with a horrific ankle injury, became the second wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semis after China’s Zheng Jie in 2008 and the first German to do so since Steffi Graf in 1999.
“I really can’t explain how I feel. It was just such a tough route back (from injury) and it’s so wonderful to be standing on Centre Court which I love so much,” Lisicki, who will play fifth seed Maria Sharapova in the last four, told reporters.
Playing to a backdrop of thunder and lightning, with rain hammering down on the closed roof so loud that it drowned out the sound of ball on racket, it was a dramatic occasion befitting one of tennis’s great venues.
Both players lived up to it too, exchanging ferociously powerful groundstrokes and mixing in crowd-pleasing dropshots in a high-quality encounter.
Lisicki, who saved two match points en route to beating French Open champion Li Na in the second round, was on top from the start and won the first set convincingly.
The ninth-seeded Bartoli, who knocked out defending champion Serena Williams on Monday, broke in the fourth game of the second set but Lisicki, helped by two outrageous baseline drop shots, broke straight back.
MANIC ROUTINE
Lisicki broke again and had three match points when serving at 5-4 but she was far too tentative and France’s Bartoli, who saved three match points before beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the second round, repeated the feat and saved them all.
In a remarkable tiebreak, 10 of the 11 points went against serve but 2007 runner-up Bartoli, who put every ounce of her energy into her groundstrokes, not to mention her manic pre-serve routine, took it 7-4.
Lisicki, who had to be carried off court on a stretcher after wasting a match point and losing to Vera Zvonareva at this year’s French Open, kept her mind and body under control and quickly broke to lead 2-0 in the third.
Bartoli, dripping with sweat in the humid conditions, gradually began to wilt and Lisicki ruthlessly rammed home her advantage to complete victory in two hours 21 minutes.
“I was disappointed that I wasn’t going for my shots at 5-4,” Lisicki added.
“I started to get tentative but there was no point where I thought I was losing it and I still felt confident going into the third set.
“I felt I was the better player today and I knew I just had to focus and fight again in the third set to win it.”
Lisicki reckoned there was no reason she could not go all the way.
“I did a very good job to get here, I’m getting better with each match and I have absolutely nothing to lose,” she said.
“I’m here in the semis. I’m going to go out there and fight and give it all I have.”
Bartoli said she had simply run out of energy.
“I have no regrets, my mind was trying extremely hard, but just my body couldn’t do anything anymore,” she stated.
“I think I really paid for all the effort I had in the last month, I’ve played a lot of matches, a lot of long matches, and at the end I couldn’t do it anymore.”
Tuesday.
The 21-year-old, out of action for five months last year with a horrific ankle injury, became the second wildcard to reach the Wimbledon semis after China’s Zheng Jie in 2008 and the first German to do so since Steffi Graf in 1999.
“I really can’t explain how I feel. It was just such a tough route back (from injury) and it’s so wonderful to be standing on Centre Court which I love so much,” Lisicki, who will play fifth seed Maria Sharapova in the last four, told reporters.
Playing to a backdrop of thunder and lightning, with rain hammering down on the closed roof so loud that it drowned out the sound of ball on racket, it was a dramatic occasion befitting one of tennis’s great venues.
Both players lived up to it too, exchanging ferociously powerful groundstrokes and mixing in crowd-pleasing dropshots in a high-quality encounter.
Lisicki, who saved two match points en route to beating French Open champion Li Na in the second round, was on top from the start and won the first set convincingly.
The ninth-seeded Bartoli, who knocked out defending champion Serena Williams on Monday, broke in the fourth game of the second set but Lisicki, helped by two outrageous baseline drop shots, broke straight back.
MANIC ROUTINE
Lisicki broke again and had three match points when serving at 5-4 but she was far too tentative and France’s Bartoli, who saved three match points before beating Lourdes Dominguez Lino in the second round, repeated the feat and saved them all.
In a remarkable tiebreak, 10 of the 11 points went against serve but 2007 runner-up Bartoli, who put every ounce of her energy into her groundstrokes, not to mention her manic pre-serve routine, took it 7-4.
Lisicki, who had to be carried off court on a stretcher after wasting a match point and losing to Vera Zvonareva at this year’s French Open, kept her mind and body under control and quickly broke to lead 2-0 in the third.
Bartoli, dripping with sweat in the humid conditions, gradually began to wilt and Lisicki ruthlessly rammed home her advantage to complete victory in two hours 21 minutes.
“I was disappointed that I wasn’t going for my shots at 5-4,” Lisicki added.
“I started to get tentative but there was no point where I thought I was losing it and I still felt confident going into the third set.
“I felt I was the better player today and I knew I just had to focus and fight again in the third set to win it.”
Lisicki reckoned there was no reason she could not go all the way.
“I did a very good job to get here, I’m getting better with each match and I have absolutely nothing to lose,” she said.
“I’m here in the semis. I’m going to go out there and fight and give it all I have.”
Bartoli said she had simply run out of energy.
“I have no regrets, my mind was trying extremely hard, but just my body couldn’t do anything anymore,” she stated.
“I think I really paid for all the effort I had in the last month, I’ve played a lot of matches, a lot of long matches, and at the end I couldn’t do it anymore.”
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