Sabine Lisicki lived up to her status as the new Wimbledon favourite with a clinical 6-3, 6-3 demolition of Kaia Kanepi in the quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The conquerors of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova all failed to back up their shock wins but Lisicki followed her stunning victory over defending champion Serena Williams with another impressive display.
Lisicki, who lost to Sharapova in the semifinals at the All England Club two years ago, will play fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska in the semifinals.
The smiling German broke Estonian Kanepi's serve in the opening game of the match and produced a barrage of fizzing groundstrokes and subtle drop shots to reach her second Wimbledon semifinal in just 65 minutes.
"There was for me no pressure at all after yesterday's win," Lisicki told a news conference.
"I needed to make the switch quickly and focus on today's (Tuesday) match and that's what I did. I think I did a good job today,’’ she added.
Lisicki made a fast start under grey skies on Court One and she broke the world number 46 in the opening game.
Bustling energetically around the court and whipping forehands crosscourt and down the line, Lisicki also tormented the ponderous Kanepi with delicate drop shots which the lanky Estonian struggled to retrieve.
Kanepi, who knocked out Briton Laura Robson in the fourth round, took advantage of three Lisicki double faults to break serve for a 2-1 lead in the second set but she looked uncomfortable whenever she was forced to leave the baseline.
Lisicki, the 23rd seed, reeled off four games in a row to stand on the brink of the last four and although Kanepi held serve to stop the rot, the German dispatched a high forehand volley on her third match point to seal victory.
Sergiy Stakhovsky and Michelle Larcher de Brito lost immediately after their stunning second-round wins over Federer and Sharapova, while Steve Darcis pulledout of the tournament due to injury after knocking out Nadal in the first round.
Radwanska in semis
Last year's runner up Agnieszka Radwanska, the highest ranked player left in the women's draw, moved closer to reaching successive Wimbledon finals after outlasting China's Li Na 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-2 in an epic last eight duel.
The Polish fourth seed, seeking her first Grand Slam title after losing in three sets to Serena Williams last year, set up a semifinal showdown with German Sabine Lisicki having staved off a Li fightback, the distraction of two rain interruptions and then squandering seven match points. Former French Open champion Li wasted chances to take the opening set and then after a short rain break, the sixth seed hit back to take the second from 4-2 down as her aggressive strokes to the corners of the court began to penetrate.
But Radwanska, who had her right thigh heavily strapped up before the start of the decider, regrouped under the now-closed roof following a second rain delay.
She secured a double break but having spurned two match points at 5-1 up, and then, astonishingly another five in the next game. With nerves frayed, she could finally lift her arms to the skies as the never-say-die Li went long.
Top seed and five-times champions Williams was beaten by Lisicki in the fourth round on Monday, following chief rivals Victoria Azarenka and Maria Sharapova out of the tournament.
Paes, Bopanna advance
India’s Leander Paes and Rohan Bopanna breezed into the quarters and pre-quarterfinals of the men’s and mixed doubles events with their respective partners.
The fourth seeded pair of Paes and his Czech partner Radek Stepanek knocked out Polish duo Lukasz Kubot and Marcin Matkowski 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 in the third round of the men’s doubles.
Bopanna paired up with Chinese Jie Zheng to post a straigh-set 7-6 (8-6), 7-5 win over Robert Farah of Columbia and Darija Jurak of Croatia in the second round of the mixed doubles event.
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