A giddy Sabine Lisicki could barely contain her excitement after becoming the first German to reach the women's singles final at Wimbledon for 14 years.
Lisicki overpowered Agnieszka Radwanska to take
the first set of Thursday's semi-final on Centre Court, but the Polish
fourth seed hit back to take the second and then went ahead in the
third.
The German somehow summoned the strength to survive, breaking back before going on to record a 6-4 4-6 9-7 win after two hours and 18 minutes on court.
"It's unbelievable. The last few games were so exciting," said a smiling Lisicki, who beat Serena Williams earlier in the tournament.
"We were fighting, Agnieszka played so well throughout the match.
"It was a battle. I'm so happy to have won that.
"I fought with all my heart and believed I could still win no matter what the score was."
Lisicki was in a similar situation in her fourth-round match against Williams, winning in three after squandering a one-set lead.
"It was a little bit like that in the third set when I was down 3-0," Lisicki added on the BBC.
"I thought, 'Okay, you did it against Serena so you can do it today as well'.
"It gave me so much confidence. I'm so, so happy I was able to finish it.
"Wimbledon is my favourite tournament, I love it so much and I love being in England. I cannot believe I'm in the final."
Saturday's match against Marion Bartoli will be Lisicki's first appearance in a grand slam final.
It will also be the first time that a German has reached a grand slam singles final since 1999 when Steffi Graf lost to Lindsay Davenport.
"Steffi wished me luck before the match," Lisicki said. "I haven't thought about the final. I'll be happy for today [Thursday] and I can re-focus tomorrow [Friday]."
Radwanska had no answer to Lisicki's power in the first set, which she won after the Pole over-hit a volley following an unfortunate net cord.
Radwanska's game went into meltdown in the first game of the second set when she was broken to love, but the Pole broke back straight away in the first of five successive breaks for her.
Lisicki then evened it up by smashing at the net to break, but incredibly the German could not hold and Radwanska moved 4-2 ahead.
Radwanska's confidence improved as she held to love to make Lisicki serve to stay in the set.
The German muttered to herself angrily as accuracy deserted her and she double-faulted to give Radwanska a set point.
Once again Lisicki failed to land her first serve and Radwanska took advantage of the weaker second, returning well before her opponent crashed a backhand wide, taking the match into a deciding set.
Lisicki still had trouble landing her first serves and Radwanska took advantage, breaking to take a 2-0 lead in the third set.
The German finally held her serve for the first time since the opening set, and her confidence grew.
The match seemed to be swinging back in Lisicki's favour as she hit a precise cross-court forehand to break back and level at 3-3.
Lisicki took advantage of Radwanska's weak second serve to earn a break point in the ninth game and she seized it as the fourth seed lofted wide while in trouble on the baseline.
Serving for the match, Lisicki started confidently with an ace but Radwanska dug in and engineered two break points. Lisicki answered in the only way she knew how - with brute force - and the game went to deuce.
Radwanska won the next point to earn another break point, but Lisicki answered with her ninth ace of the match. Lisicki could not save a fourth break point though as she sent a lob over the baseline and the set went to 5-5.
Lisicki blew two chances to break with the set at 6-6 and another chance came and went at 7-7 when the German over-hit a regulation forehand at 30-40. Lisicki did not have to worry, though, as she broke soon after when Radwanska fired long.
Serving for the match, Lisicki did not disappoint, sending down a powerful forehand winner before collapsing on the grass after two hours and 18 minutes on court.
The German somehow summoned the strength to survive, breaking back before going on to record a 6-4 4-6 9-7 win after two hours and 18 minutes on court.
"It's unbelievable. The last few games were so exciting," said a smiling Lisicki, who beat Serena Williams earlier in the tournament.
"We were fighting, Agnieszka played so well throughout the match.
"It was a battle. I'm so happy to have won that.
"I fought with all my heart and believed I could still win no matter what the score was."
Lisicki was in a similar situation in her fourth-round match against Williams, winning in three after squandering a one-set lead.
"It was a little bit like that in the third set when I was down 3-0," Lisicki added on the BBC.
"I thought, 'Okay, you did it against Serena so you can do it today as well'.
"It gave me so much confidence. I'm so, so happy I was able to finish it.
"Wimbledon is my favourite tournament, I love it so much and I love being in England. I cannot believe I'm in the final."
Saturday's match against Marion Bartoli will be Lisicki's first appearance in a grand slam final.
It will also be the first time that a German has reached a grand slam singles final since 1999 when Steffi Graf lost to Lindsay Davenport.
"Steffi wished me luck before the match," Lisicki said. "I haven't thought about the final. I'll be happy for today [Thursday] and I can re-focus tomorrow [Friday]."
Radwanska had no answer to Lisicki's power in the first set, which she won after the Pole over-hit a volley following an unfortunate net cord.
Radwanska's game went into meltdown in the first game of the second set when she was broken to love, but the Pole broke back straight away in the first of five successive breaks for her.
Lisicki then evened it up by smashing at the net to break, but incredibly the German could not hold and Radwanska moved 4-2 ahead.
Radwanska's confidence improved as she held to love to make Lisicki serve to stay in the set.
The German muttered to herself angrily as accuracy deserted her and she double-faulted to give Radwanska a set point.
Once again Lisicki failed to land her first serve and Radwanska took advantage of the weaker second, returning well before her opponent crashed a backhand wide, taking the match into a deciding set.
Lisicki still had trouble landing her first serves and Radwanska took advantage, breaking to take a 2-0 lead in the third set.
The German finally held her serve for the first time since the opening set, and her confidence grew.
The match seemed to be swinging back in Lisicki's favour as she hit a precise cross-court forehand to break back and level at 3-3.
Lisicki took advantage of Radwanska's weak second serve to earn a break point in the ninth game and she seized it as the fourth seed lofted wide while in trouble on the baseline.
Serving for the match, Lisicki started confidently with an ace but Radwanska dug in and engineered two break points. Lisicki answered in the only way she knew how - with brute force - and the game went to deuce.
Radwanska won the next point to earn another break point, but Lisicki answered with her ninth ace of the match. Lisicki could not save a fourth break point though as she sent a lob over the baseline and the set went to 5-5.
Lisicki blew two chances to break with the set at 6-6 and another chance came and went at 7-7 when the German over-hit a regulation forehand at 30-40. Lisicki did not have to worry, though, as she broke soon after when Radwanska fired long.
Serving for the match, Lisicki did not disappoint, sending down a powerful forehand winner before collapsing on the grass after two hours and 18 minutes on court.
Source: http://to.ly/mfLr
