Smiling Sabine faces 'Mad' Marion in Wimbledon final
Smiling Sabine Lisicki mounts incredible fightback to set up final against quirky Bartoli - who was fast asleep just before her semi-final
Sabine Lisicki 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 yesterday in a thrilling Wimbledon semi-final.
The 24th seed Lisicki will face France's 15th-seeded Marion Bartoli, the 2007 runner-up, in tomorrow's title match looking to become Germany's first champion at a major since Steffi Graf beat Martina Hingis to claim the 1999 French Open.
Graf was also the last German to reach a final at a major when she was runner-up to Lindsay Davenport at Wimbledon that same year.
But 23-year-old Lisicki, the smiling darling of the All England Club crowd, 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.