LONDON-Maria Sharapova’s hopes of winning a second Wimbledon title were shattered on Monday as the world No 1 was comprehensively beaten 6-4 6-3 by Germany’s Sabine Lisicki in the fourth round.
The world number 15 had top seed Sharapova on the back foot early in the first set, forcing her into a string of uncharacteristic errors, and did not let up until she had gained revenge for her semifinal defeat by the Russian last year.
Lisicki, who had complained about her second-round opponent Bojana Jovanovski’s grunting, was forced to endure Sharapova’s loud wails, but kept her concentration to break the French Open champion decisively in the 10th game of the first set.
She broke again early in the second and closed it out, converting her third match point with an ace.
“It is just unbelievable for me, I’m just so happy,” Lisicki said after falling to her knees with both fists clenched in celebration.
“I have lost my three previous meetings with her. I just went for my shots…
“I am a fighter too and I fight to last point. I’m getting better with each match.”
The German will play either her compatriot Angelique Kerber or Belgian Kim Clijsters in the quarterfinals.
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WILLIAMS TESTED, BUT SURVIVES
Four-time champion Serena Williams survived a gruelling examination from Yaroslava Shvedova to reach the Wimbledon quarterfinals with a 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 victory on Monday.
Serena looked set to cruise through as she took the first set in emphatic fashion, but Kazakh wildcard Shvedova has been in superb form, winning all 24 points and dropping none in a Golden Set against Sara Errani in the previous round, and she hit back impressively to force the American to a final set.
Williams, also taken to three sets by Zheng Jie in the previous round, showed why she is a 13-time Grand Slam champion as she finally subdued her gritty opponent to set up a last eight clash with defending champion Petra Kvitova.
KVITOVA OVERCOMES SCHIAVONE
Defending champion Petra Kvitova came back from a set and a break down to beat Italian Francesca Schiavone 4-6 7-5 6-1 in a rain-disrupted fourth-round match.
Kvitova, the fourth seed, looked to be in trouble when former French Open champion Schiavone went a set and 2-1 up, taking advantage of a double fault to help her break the Czech.
Kvitova, however, broke straight back and went 6-5 up before light rain began falling on Court Three.
The match continued after a series of stops and starts and Schiavone was clearly unhappy at being told to resume play early in the third set, complaining to no avail that the grass was damp.
As the Italian continued to glower and mutter, Kvitova raced through two breaks of serve to wrap up the set in 39 minutes and will now face former champion Serena Williams.
CLIJSTERS BIDS FAREWELL TO WIMBLEDON AFTER KERBER THRASHING
Kim Clijsters waved goodbye to Wimbledon after she was thrashed 6-1 6-1 by German eighth seed Angelique Kerber at a windswept and chilly All England Club.
The Belgian, who will be retiring for a second time after this year’s US Open, looked like a pale shadow of the player who has won four major titles. She struggled to get her serve into gear and committed a string of unforced errors.
Kerber was in sparkling form and totally dominated the exchanges against crowd favourite Clijsters, who was suffering from an abdominal injury in the leadup to Wimbledon.
Clijsters survived two match points at 5-0 down in the second set but it was a last throw of the dice against the fiercely determined Kerber who served out for victory.
At least one German player is guaranteed a place in the semifinals after Kerber booked a last-eight date with compatriot Sabine Lisicki.
