Dead ends replaced by the home straight for favourite Sharapova

Maria Sharapova reached the semi-finals of Wimbledon for the first time since 2006 and admitted she had encountered a lot of “dead ends” on her route back to the big time.

The 24-year-old was Wimbledon champion as a teenager in 2004 and also has US and Australian Open successes on her resume.

But she lost form and fitness after her early spurt of success, and is only healthy again now after shoulder surgery.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

A last-four appearance at Roland Garros last month suggested she was back on track and she confirmed that yesterday, hammering Dominika Cibulkova 6-1 6-1 in 59 minutes to set up tomorrow’s showdown with Sabine Lisicki.

Sharapova, pictured, was unstoppable on serve and in rallies under the Centre Court roof, and is ready to taste success again, with the semi-final one to savour.

“I would have loved for it not to have taken this long but I’m not complaining,” she said.

“It’s the road that you take. It’s not always straight. There are a lot of zigzags. A lot of the time you feel like it’s a dead end. You have to turn around and have a few other options. The navigation is not always correct.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I’ve worked really hard to get to this stage, but I’m not saying this is where I want to end. I want to keep going.”

Yesterday’s win was built on six successive breaks of serve, with Cibulkova, Caroline Wozniacki’s conqueror, unable to replicate her performance from Monday.

“I played well against someone that I lost to little over a month ago on clay in two sets, so I knew that she was capable of playing good tennis,” added Sharapova.

“I thought I played really solid and did the right things to win. I think the return was very important. She hits really flat and her serve is flat as well, so it was important for me to stay low on a lot of shots.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Sharapova’s success as a teenager means she is fully prepared for what may come her way over the coming days.

And, although it has been a long time since she was regularly involved at the business end of major tournaments, she feels ready for what lies ahead.

“It’s great that I have experience of being at this stage, but I haven’t been here for a while so it’s a nice and refreshing feeling to have,” she said. “I still feel like the tournament is not over. I still have a few more girls left.”

Lisicki struck a major blow for the new generation of German players by knocking out Serena Williams’s Wimbledon conqueror Marion Bartoli to reach her first grand slam semi-final.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges have been leading the charge but Lisicki has trumped them both with her superb run, becoming the first German woman since seven-time champion Steffi Graf 12 years ago to reach the last four.

The 21-year-old certainly did it the hard way, blowing three match points and losing the second set before recovering impressively to triumph 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 against a player who, in the end, ran out of energy.

This time last year Lisicki was on crutches with an ankle injury that eventually kept her out for five months, and she would have had to go through qualifying had she not won the warm-up tournament in Birmingham and been awarded a wild card.

“It just feels amazing to be in the semi-finals, especially after all I went through,” said Lisicki. “I think it’s also great for German tennis to have great girls. It’s not only me.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The match was played under the Centre Court roof while a thunderstorm raged outside, with the umpire at times struggling to make herself heard above the noise.

Lisicki added: “It was very loud. It was definitely something different to play on grass indoors and have a big thunderstorm out there.”

The 26-year-old Bartoli had played a lot of matches coming into Wimbledon – including reaching the French Open semi-finals and then winning the warm-up tournament in Eastbourne. She also had a stomach virus.

She also endured long three-setters against Lourdes Dominguez Lino and Flavia Pennetta before she even got to play Williams on Monday, and in the end it was just too much.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Bartoli said: “My mind was trying extremely hard, but my body couldn’t do anything anymore. I still fought very hard, especially in that second set.

“I was match points down, so I have no regrets.

Related topics: