Sabine Lisicki, an unseeded wildcard, became the first German woman since Steffi Graf in 1999 to reach the Wimbledon semifinals.
By JOHN MARTIN
Published: June 28, 2011
WIMBLEDON, England —Maria Sharapova of Russia signaled her return to the form that won her a Wimbledon championship in 2004 by overwhelming Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia, 6-1, 6-1, in barely an hour Tuesday. The victory sent Sharapova to the semifinals here for the first time since 2006.“I’m very honored to be in the semifinals,” Sharapova said at courtside after the match.
It was a powerful display of all-court dominance by Sharapova only one day after her opponent had dispatched the top seed, Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark.
Sharapova will now play Sabine Lisicki of Germany, an unseeded wild card entrant, in the semifinals after Lisicki upset No. 9 seed Marian Bartoli of France, 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1, in their quarterfinal match on Tuesday.
The Sharapova-Cibulkova match had none of that drama. By the time she trailed 0-2 in the second set, Cibulkova had lost her serve four times and hit only two winners to Sharapova’s 13. But, if she felt pinned down, she didn’t show it and broke Sharapova’s serve to provide a short glimmer of hope. The crowd applauded loudly, hoping perhaps this might not turn into a rout.
That was to no avail.
Sharapova’s shrieks became louder, if possible, the sound echoing through the Centre Court cavern created by the closed roof. Cibulkova’s sounds were more contralto than soprano.
Sharapova quickly regained control of the play, broke Cibulkova’s serve two more times and pummeled still more winners. She raised her hands in victory when Cibulkova’s final shot sailed over the baseline and let out a modified shriek of celebration.
Lisicki’s celebration had been even more modest. She broke into a wide grin when Bartoli’s final forehand found the net. She is the first German to reach the women’s semifinals since Steffi Graf in 1999.
“I have absolutely nothing to lose and I’m just going to fight,” she said during a courtside interview.
Played under a Centre Court roof that shielded the players from a heavy London thunderstorm, it was an oddly jittery encounter, punctuated by Bartoli’s eccentric jumping antics as she awaited Lisicki’s serve.
After a vigorous extended rally, Lisicki clipped a backhand down the line and out of Bartoli’s reach to clinch the first set in 43 minutes, hitting 18 winners and 4 aces.
Bartoli and Lisicki traded service breaks early in the second set, but Lisicki was taking control and had the match on her racket, serving at 5-4. That’s when her nerves kicked in. She bungled an easy high forehand at the net but recovered on the next point by jamming a forehand down the line and then hit an ace, her sixth, and another winner to set up match point. After trading winners, Lisicki crafted a low overhead that Bartoli couldn’t reach.
But Lisicki’s failed drop shot on another match point suggested she had gone once too often to that well. Bartoli soon offered her another match point and Lisicki couldn’t convert it, sending a forehand wide.
Lisicki ultimately lost her serve by double-faulting and it appeared that her game was about to fall apart. Bartoli won the set in a tie-breaker.
As they began the final set, Lisicki had hit a remarkable 42 winners to Bartoli’s 10, an unusually wide margin for a match that was virtually dead even.
Soon the difference began to appear in the score. Bartoli double-faulted to drop her serve in the second game of the set.
Lisicki’s moment was coming. She held serve to lead, 3-0, and raced to her chair for the changeover. Bartoli looked dejected and leaned forward to rub her upper left thigh. She could muster little in the way of a challenge from there.
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