Wimbledon 2013: Ladies semifinals preview

Kirsten Flipkens (20) v Marion Bartoli (15) (Head-to-head: First meeting)

Kirsten Flipkens

The Belgian Kirsten Flipkens’s story is a heartfelt tale of incredible self-belief and indomitable spirit. Of all the four semifinalists, she is the only one without a grasscourt title to her name, in spite of reaching the Rosmalen final just the week before Wimbledon.

Not surprisingly, she is the most unexpected semifinalist this year at the Big W, and she validates it when she says, “I think I’m the most surprising name in the last four, but I don’t really care!”

Yes, this indifference and never-say-die attitude are what brought her this far despite not heeding doctors’ warnings to give up tennis. In April 2012, four blood clots were discovered in her calves, and her time away from the Tour to heal herself saw her ranking plummeting to 262.

Subsequently the Belgian Tennis Federation stopped her funds, and she was left in dire need of support. Belgian tennis great Kim Clijsters took her under her wings and turned into her part-time coach.

After enduring the hardships of not being able to play even qualifying for Wimbledon last year, a semifinal appearance is a fitting reward for this former junior Wimbledon champion who can also emulate Mauresmo’s feat if she wins the title.

She can chip and charge, and confidently hit aces on match points like she did against 2011 winner Petra Kvitova in her quarter-final. An array of slices, lobs and dropshots form an inextricable part of her game, but she will come up against some raw power in this match.

Marion Bartoli is one of the hardest-hitters on the Tour with flat strokes which makes her apt for making merry on the grass. She is feisty, and her two-handed strokes off both flanks bring back flashes of Monica Seles.

Marion Bartoli

It has been a quiet year so far for the French No. 1 with her struggles to arrive to a stable coaching relationship. Now she has Bernard Tomic‘s former hitting partner Thomas Drouet in her team and is being helped by Amelie Mauresmo at Wimbledon. Returning to the Slam where she has the best memories, she is slowly coming alive and her win over Sloane Stephens in the last-eight stage was her first top 20 victory this season.

If she needs more inspiration she can go back and check her own resume which will display her two sterling achievements – triumphs over Justine Henin and Serena Williams at Wimbledon.

But reaching her second Wimbledon final might after all become an arduous task as she comes up against a player with fleeting movement and loads of variety who can expose Bartoli’s comparatively lethargic footwork.

Prediction: Flipkens wins in three sets.