Lisicki winning generation game
Sabine Lisicki struck a major blow for the new generation of German players by knocking out Serena Williams' Wimbledon conqueror Marion Bartoli to reach her first grand slam semi-final.
This time last year Lisicki was on crutches with an ankle injury that was misdiagnosed and 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."
Andrea Petkovic and Julia Goerges have been leading the charge for tennis in Germany, but Lisicki has trumped them both with her superb run at the All England Club, 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 going on to lose the second set before recovering impressively to triumph 6-4 6-7 (4/7) 6-1 against a player who ran out of energy.
Lisicki, the world number 62 was not even born when Graf won the first of her Wimbledon titles in 1988 but she has watched some of her matches on tape and went for dinner with Graf and husband Andre Agassi in Las Vegas.
She added: "They were so successful, legends. It was just amazing to see how nice and down-to-earth people they are."
Lisicki is no stranger to success at Wimbledon having reached the quarter-finals two years ago, and she felt both that experience and her injury nightmare had proved valuable in the heat of the battle on Tuesday.
She said: "I think I'm more experienced and calmer. Two years ago it was different. I was more nervous. I couldn't sleep so well, all those little things.
"But now it's different. Also, after the injury, it's so nice to be back. I know how fast it can be gone, so I just try to enjoy myself even more and just try to enjoy every minute that I'm on the court."
