Maria Sharapova v Sabine Lisicki – live! | Katy Murrells

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below • And email your thoughts to katy.murrells@guardian.co.uk First set: Sharapova 0-2 Lisicki* In fact it’s Sharapova who’s showing the nerves at the moment, as she double faults on the first point and then throws in another unforced error. Lisicki then unleashes on the forehand to bring up three break points in double-quick time. 0-40 . And a second double fault hands Lisicki the game. First set: *Sharapova 0-1 Lisicki (*denotes next server) “Boom Boom” hits the ground running, opening up with a fearsome serve, before holding to 15. No sign of nerves yet from the 21-year-old, who’s appearing in her first grand slam semi-final. The players are already out and warming up, leaving me with next to no time to catch my breath, let alone have a comfort break. This could get uncomfortable. Anyway, these two have only met once before, in Miami earlier this year, when Sharapova prevailed 6-2 6-0. “She kind of kicked my butt last time,” said Lisicki. “But it’s a semi-final. I got there playing very good tennis. I have nothing to lose. There are no easy matches at that stage. I’m just going to play the best I can.” Afternoon . Sorry for the rushed preamble, I’ve just scampered over from the Petra Kvitova v Victoria Azarenka game-by-game . So with Kvitova through to her first grand slam final, can Sabine Lisicki do the same, or will Maria Sharapova justify her status as the title favourite and shriek her way into a second Wimbledon final? “Boom Boom” Lisicki, as the German is known, has been blasting opponents off the court this fortnight, and has a huge serve. No surface is better suited to the 21-year-old’s game than grass. Though of course Sharapova’s no stranger to bludgeoning the life out of a tennis ball, and played like a woman possessed in the quarter-finals, so this should be a brutal match. Both have had their fair share of injury problems. This is Sharapova’s first grand slam semi-final since the 2008 Australian Open, after which she had a career-threatening shoulder injury. It’s been a long road back, and many lesser characters would probably have given up, especially if they had her millions in the bank. Meanwhile Lisicki is only playing here by virtue of a wildcard, after missing five months last year when an ankle problem was misdiagnosed. And that’s without mentioning last month’s incident at the French Open, when she had to be carried off court on a stretcher with cramp. Wimbledon 2011 Wimbledon Maria Sharapova Tennis Katy Murrells guardian.co.uk

Posted by on June 30, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.