MARIA Sharapova stormed into the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time since 2006 in Wimbledon on Tuesday (June 28), blasting aside Dominika Cibulkova with an emphatic 6-1, 6-1 quarter-final victory.
Cibulkova, who had stunned world number one and top seed Caroline Wozniacki in the last 16, never looked like repeating that upset against Sharapova, who is the heavy favourite to repeat her 2004 triumph.
The 6ft 2in Russian fifth seed unleashed a string of thunderous ground strokes to overwhelm her Slovakian opponent, and now faces German wildcard Sabine Lisicki for a place in the final.
“It’s an honour to be in the semi-final. It’s a few years since I’ve got past the fourth round so it’s a great chance to take it a step further,” said Sharapova, who believes she has got stronger as the tournament has progressed.
“I certainly feel like I’ve improved, especially from my second round. I think that’s really important if you want to get to the later stages,” she said.
“You have to step it up because the matches will only get tougher and you’re going to be playing better players.”
Sharapova was also delighted to have outclassed a player who had beaten her in straight sets at the Madrid Masters in May.
“I played against someone that I lost to a little over a month ago on clay in two sets, so I knew that she was capable of playing really good tennis.
“A few years ago I also lost to her at the French Open in the quarterfinal. But I played really solid and did the right things to win today.”
Sharapova, who had not dropped a set en route to the quarter-finals, was quickly into her groove, stretching the 5ft 3in Cibulkova with an array of shots that left the Slovakian flailing.
A superb forehand winner set up Sharapova’s first break in the third game, and with the Russian’s powerful serve functioning smoothly, Cibulkova was always struggling to claw back the initiative.
Sharapova clinched a double break in the fifth game – and a 4-1 lead – when Cibulkova double-faulted at 30-40 down.
After Sharapova held to go 5-1 up, Cibulkova’s frailties on serve were exposed once more when she squandered a 40-0 lead to be broken again, Sharapova clinching the set when her opponent smashed a forehand long.
Cibulkova was soon in trouble in the second set, being broken in her first service after Sharapova unfurled another corking forehand winner to go 2-0 up.
Yet Cibulkova halted what was in danger of becoming a rout in the next game, breaking back immediately to make it 2-1.
But having worked her way back into the match, Cibulkova promptly surrendered the initiative once again, smashing a forehand wide to suffer her fifth consecutive service break and go 3-1 down.
Another break in the sixth game left Sharapova serving for the match, and she duly completed the win when Cibulkova smacked a forehand long.
