LONDON, June 28 (Reuters) - Maria Sharapova swaggered into the Wimbledon semi-finals with a formidable display every bit as spectacular as the thunder claps that rattled the All England Club on Tuesday.
The Russian fifth seed, the stand-out name in an unfamiliar looking last eight, roared to a 6-1 6-1 win over shell-shocked Dominika Cibulkova under Centre Court’s roof and now only wildcard Sabine Lisicki stands between Sharapova and her first final here since she won the tournament in 2004.
Sharapova became the clear favourite for the title after Monday’s fourth-round carnage in which defending champion Serena Williams, her sister Venus, the five-times winner, and world number one Caroline Wozniacki all bowed out.
The broad-shouldered 24-year-old lived up to that billing with an unrelenting display of high-voltage tennis to demolish a player she towered above both in stature and class.
“I haven’t been at this stage in Wimbledon in a few years, so this feels great,” former world number one Sharapova, who had not lasted beyond the quarter-finals at the grasscourt slam since 2006, told reporters after her winning in an hour.
“I would have loved for it not to have taken that long, but I’m not complaining. It’s the road that you sometimes have to take. It’s not always straight. There are a lot of zigzags.”
There were few zigzags against the overwhelmed Cibulkova, just straight line speed as Sharapova thumped 23 clean winners and countless more unreturnable drives.
Even when 24th-ranked Cibulkova, who knocked out Wozniacki on Monday, earned a break point in the final game Sharapova simply cuffed a fizzing ace down the middle, a pinpoint shot that would have been appreciated by U.S. Open golf champion Rory McIlroy who watched from the Royal Box.
source:yahoo.com
