Marion Bartoli of France eliminated the last American tennis player left standing at Wimbledon Tuesday, defeating Sloane Stephens, 6-4, 7-5, in a rain-interrupted match that included a 2½-hour rain delay.
The 15th-seeded Bartoli, the 2007 runner-up at the All England Club who reaches her third career Grand Slam semifinal, took advantage of the delay, going on a stretch that broke Stephens five consecutive times. Leading 5-4 with Stephens serving at deuce, Bartoli complained about court conditions as rain drops began to fall on the court. When they returned to action, Bartoli immediately scored two quick points to steal the set.
"I didn't really get why the crowd was so against me at that point," Bartoli said of All English Club negative reaction to her complaints about the soggy conditions. "Already, the courts were a bit slippery even when it's dry. When it's wet, it can get dangerous. I didn't want to stop the match for no reason. It was a precaution. I saw the crowd go against me but I'm just glad to be moving on to the semifinals."
Bartoli will face 20th-seeded Kirsten Flipkens, who defeated 2011 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 . Flipkens, ranked number 20, suffered from blood clots in her leg that prevented her from even entering Wimbledon's qualifying event.
"The people believing in me, I can count on one hand," said Flipkens, who kissed the ground after closing out her match with Kvitova with an ace. "It's amazing."
On the other side of the women's bracket, 23rd-seeded Sabine Lisicki quickly disposed of Kaia Kanepi 6-3, 6-3 in 61 minutes Tuesday, just 24 hours after eliminating Serena Williams.
"It was a different match-up," said Lisicki. "I was just as focused as yesterday because I knew it's going to be tough after yesterday's match to just keep the level up. But I think I did a very good job to go for my shots and play smart. It had to be a different game today."
Lisicki will go up against fourth-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska, who beat sixth-seeded Li Na 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-2, in a match that took more than 3½ hours to complete due to two rain delays, an injury timeout ,and a final game that lasted more than 10 minutes.
Radwanska called a medical timeout after the second set, so trainers could work on her right thigh, and again in the third set for a quick treatment on both legs.
"Too much tennis the last few days," said Radwanska, who is a win away from reaching her second straight Wimbledon final. "I was struggling with that. Otherwise, I think it's a good problem to have."
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