Kirsten Flipkens vows to continue Wimbledon fairytale

Kirsten Flipkens has warned Marion Bartoli that she has no intention of letting her fairytale run at Wimbledon come to an end in Thursday's semi-finals.

Flipkens knows she is one of the more unlikely All England Club semi-finalists in recent years, but the Belgian 20th seed is determined to make the most of her first appearance in the last four at a Grand Slam.

This time last year the 2003 junior Wimbledon champion, who suffered several serious injuries as a youngster, was ranked a lowly 262 in the world after blood clots in her left ankle forced her to take several months off.

Tuesday's surprise 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over former champion Petra Kvitova in the last eight secured a semi-final showdown with French 15th seed Bartoli and provided Flipkens with a tangible reward after all her struggles.

"I've been through a lot of ups and downs throughout my career. I've had so many injuries," said 27-year-old Flipkens.

"I had a really bad back injury when I was the junior champion and all the doctors said my career would have been over normally.

"But I'm just the kind of person that doesn't like to break and I keep on fighting back every time.

"Last year I didn't get into the qualifying of Wimbledon. I was ranked 262; today I'm a semi-finalist in a Grand Slam.

"It's more than a dream. There's no words. I never expected this to happen in my life."

Fittingly for a tournament shaped by upsets, Flipkens' clash with Bartoli, who was beaten by Venus Williams in the 2007 Wimbledon final, is one of two surprising last four match-ups.

Bartoli came through a nerve-jangling clash with American 17th seed Sloane Stephens, winning 6-4, 7-5 after a remarkable second set featuring nine breaks in 12 games.

But Bartoli fell foul of the fans on Court One who booed her when she demanded that play be stopped when she was leading 5-4, 40-40 in the first set with Stephens serving as light rain began to fall.

The other semi-final is a fascinating clash of styles between big-serving Sabine Lisicki and shot-making Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who lost last year's final to Serena Williams and moved into the last four again with a 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2 win over Chinese sixth seed Li Na.

Lisicki swept into the last four as the German 23rd seed followed her sensational upset of Williams with an emphatic 6-3, 6-3 victory over Estonia's Kaia Kanepi.

The 23-year-old's previous best Grand Slam run ended in a Wimbledon semi-final defeat to Maria Sharapova in 2011.

Now Lisicki has a chance to finally reach her first Grand Slam final and become the first German woman to feature in the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999.

She believes the experience of making the last four two years ago will prove invaluable.

"I know how it is to be in the semis. I know the different atmosphere. Everything is starting to get empty in the locker room. It is a completely different feeling," she said.

"I'm glad that I had that experience before. I feel much fresher, fitter, better than two years ago.

"I just feel like I'm hitting the ball well. I'm moving well. And having had the experience in the past, all that together helps me a lot."

Lisicki's big-serving game is perfectly suited to Wimbledon's fast grass-courts, but Radwanska will pose an especially tough test because she has been playing against the German since they were juniors.

"We didn't play for a couple of years, but it will be good challenge because we know each other since the juniors," Radwanska said.

"Actually we talked about that also not so long ago. We played some championship in the under 10 or 12s.

"It was really long time ago. Time flies, and suddenly we're here playing the semi-final of a Grand Slam. We going to fight, for sure."