Sharapova ready to end Wimbledon drought

For Maria Sharapova, the window to a first ever Wimbledon title has suddenly, invitingly opened… AP Photo/Alastair Grant

LONDON – Maria Sharapova’s route to a first Wimbledon title has suddenly become doable after the earlier-than-expected exits of Serena Williams and Caroline Wozniacki.

The fifth seeded Russian was swiftly installed as the tournament favourite on Monday after defending champion Williams and world number one Wozniacki were removed from the women’s singles in quick succession.

Sharapova, who exploded onto the women’s scene in 2004 when she stunned Serena Williams to win Wimbledon as a 17-year-old rookie, faces Slovakia’s Dominika Cibulkova in Tuesday’s quarter-finals.

Although the head-to-head record stands at two wins apiece, all of Sharpova and Cibulkova’s previous meetings have come on clay.

Sharapova will be confident of progressing however in a tournament environment that she is revelling in.

“I’m doing well,” she said on Monday after swatting aside China’s Peng Shuai 6-4, 6-2. “It’s only going to get tougher from here. We’re in the quarter-final stage of the tournament. I just hope that I raise my level even more.”

Cibulkova, who ended top seed Wozniacki’s hopes of winning a first Grand Slam on Monday, said she plans to be aggressive against her more experienced quarter-final opponent.

“What else I can do, you know? That will be my goal. The last two times I beat her, but it was on clay,” she said.

“But I have a lot of confidence from my last matches, and especially from the win against Wozniacki.”

Elsewhere on Tuesday, French ninth seed Marion Bartoli will attempt to recapture the form that saw her put paid to Serena Williams’ campaign on Monday.

Bartoli, who banished her father and coach Walter from the stands during an extraordinary bust-up in her third round match, faces German wildcard Sabine Lisicki for a place in the last four.

Bartoli insisted her stormy altercation with her father was history after advancing to the last eight in straight sets against Williams.

“I think we are all human. For 10 seconds I lost my mind,” she explained.

“But my parents didn’t really blame me for that because they know how hard it was for me just to be on the court. Today I was feeling a bit better and you see how I played.”

In the other side of the draw, Belarusian fourth seed Victoria Azarenka will be favoured to overcome Austrian world number 80 Tamira Paszek and reach the semi-finals for the first time.

The other quarter-final sees Bulgarian 32nd seed Tsvetana Pironkova, who downed Venus Williams on Monday for the second year running, take on eighth seed Petra Kvitova.

Pironkova had only won four matches on the WTA Tour prior to this tournament, but is confident she can extend her Wimbledon run.

“I think I played well since the first match that I played here,” she said. “I think I’ve raised my game to a different level, to a better level.”