MARION BARTOLI PREPARED for her Wimbledon semi-final win over Kirsten Flipkens by sleeping in the locker room until 30 minutes before going onto court.
The eccentric Frenchwoman stormed past Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour before revealing her unique way of preparing for her 1pm start.
“I was asleep from 12 until 12.30, you can ask the physio,” she said. “And I was still razor-sharp right from the start.”
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Bartoli will face Sabine Lisicki who became the first German woman since 1999 to reach a Grand Slam final when she defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 2-6, 9-7.
A win on Saturday would see Lisicki become Germany’s first champion at a major since Steffi Graf beat Martina Hingis to claim the 1999 French Open.
The 23-year-old, who has become the smiling darling of the All England Club crowd over the last fortnight, did it the hard way.
She was a set and a break ahead before an astonishing collapse put her 0-3 down in the decider with errors flying off both sides.
But Lisicki, who put out five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round, mounted an astonishing and memorable fightback.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “The last few games were so exciting. We were both fighting and it was a real battle.
“Even when I was down 3-0 in the final set, I still believed that I could win, no matter what the score was.”
Bartoli sleepwalks into Wimbledon decider against Lisicki
Updated 17.20
MARION BARTOLI PREPARED for her Wimbledon semi-final win over Kirsten Flipkens by sleeping in the locker room until 30 minutes before going onto court.
The eccentric Frenchwoman stormed past Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 in just over an hour before revealing her unique way of preparing for her 1pm start.
“I was asleep from 12 until 12.30, you can ask the physio,” she said. “And I was still razor-sharp right from the start.”
Bartoli will face Sabine Lisicki who became the first German woman since 1999 to reach a Grand Slam final when she defeated Poland’s Agnieszka Radwanska 6-4, 2-6, 9-7.
A win on Saturday would see Lisicki become Germany’s first champion at a major since Steffi Graf beat Martina Hingis to claim the 1999 French Open.
The 23-year-old, who has become the smiling darling of the All England Club crowd over the last fortnight, did it the hard way.
She was a set and a break ahead before an astonishing collapse put her 0-3 down in the decider with errors flying off both sides.
But Lisicki, who put out five-time champion Serena Williams in the fourth round, mounted an astonishing and memorable fightback.
“It’s unbelievable,” she said. “The last few games were so exciting. We were both fighting and it was a real battle.
“Even when I was down 3-0 in the final set, I still believed that I could win, no matter what the score was.”
First published 15.03
© AFP, 2013
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