Lisicki Stuns Sharapova to Reach Wimbledon Quarters

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Lisicki Stuns Sharapova to Reach Wimbledon Quarters

By Chris Oddo

Photo Credit: Paul Gilham/ Getty

(July 2, 2012)—It all came to a screeching halt for World No. 1 and consensus Wimbledon favorite Maria Sharapova today, as Sabine Lisicki summoned some more of her Wimbledon magic to secure a 6-4, 6-3 victory on Court No. 1.

“It’s just unbelievable,” said Lisicki afterwards. “For the third time I’ve beaten the French Open champion here.”

After Sharapova raced out to an early break to take the lead in the first set, Lisicki stormed back, eventually breaking Sharapova for the third time to take the first set.

“I’m just so happy, I’ve lost the first three meetings against her,” said Lisicki, who was defeated by Sharapova in last year’s semifinals in her best Grand Slam performance to date. “I just went for my shots.”

In the second set Lisicki put forth her best serving performance of the tournament. She didn’t face a break point and pumped in three aces, including a 110 mph zinger on a second serve to seal the match in one hour and 24-minutes.

Having lost her bid to become the first player to win the French-Wimbledon double in ten years, and also lost her grip on the No. 1 ranking, a disappointed Sharapova kept her head high and gave all the credit to her opponent. "She played extremely well today and did many things better than I did on this given day," the former Wimbledon champion said. "You just have to hand it to her."

Lisicki has now reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the third time in four appearances. Of her nine top 10 victories, five have come at Wimbledon.

“It’s my favorite tournament,” she said. “I love playing on grass, I love the crowd here…I just love it.”

The 15th-seeded German will next face her compatriot Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals. Kerber ended Kim Clijster’s hopes in her final Wimbledon with a brutally efficient 6-1, 6-1 drubbing of the four-time Grand Slam champion.

Serena Punches Past Shvedova

After trading sets on Monday, then trading blows in a tense, riveting third set, four-time Wimbledon champion Serena Williams struck the final blow against Yaroslava Shvedova before the steady mist that had been falling caused any delays.

With Williams serving second in the set, the oldest player now remaing in the women's draw held her nerve, matching the upset-minded Shvedova blow for blow and threatening to break the Kazakh all the while.

At 3-3 Serena had a good look at a break point, but it was squandered when Shvedova's back-foot forehand clipped the net cord and threw the rally into chaos. All Williams could do was race in and send up a harmless lob which Shvedova hammered past her for the winner.

After another masterful hold, and with the grey skies and mist starting to become problematic, Serena found herself with a triple break point at 4-4, but again Shvedova held, this time with some masterful first-strike tennis of her own.

"I thought, just stay relaxed," said Williams, afterwards. "I knew the whole match I could play better."

At 5-5, it was Shvedova--now without her trademark wrap-around shades due to the mist--who blinked first, serving up back-to-back double faults from 15-all to give Williams a look at two more break points.

Williams wouldn't squander this opportunity, thanks to some more help from the suddenly nervy Shvedova, who sent another error well wide.

Serving it out for a spot in the quarterfinals in tough conditions is never an easy chore, but Williams proved to be up to the task. She drilled a forehand winner that fell just inside the sideline to go up 30-15 and then proceeded to hit one of the most sublime lobs of the tournament--an artfully angled crosscourt backhand that arced over Shvedova for a winner--to find herself at match point.

From there it was all over but the shouting. And the jumping, fist-pumping, and smiling too.

"I didn't want to lose today," Williams said with a smile of relief afterwards.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion advances to face defending champion Petra Kvitova in what will be a reprisal of their 2010 Wimbledon final, won by Williams in two sets.

"I have nothing to lose going into that match," said Williams. "I've been looking forward to playing her."

Kvitova emerged victorious after a wild struggle with Francesca Schiavone, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1. After a slow, haphazard start, Kvitova managed to break Schiavone to win the second set, then ramped up her attack to defeat the Italian going away.

Schiavone, vying for her second Wimbledon quarterfinal appearance, became distraught over the wet conditions after slipping while hitting a forehand late in the second set. In the third she pleaded for a stoppage, but her demands were not met.

In the decider, Kvitova smashed 9 winners against 5 unforced errors, and that relatively clean statline made all the difference in the world against the dejected Italian. The 22-year-old Czech had dirtied up the scoresheed with 14 errors in each of the first two sets.