Bartoli in the home stretch as comeback queen awaits

The semi-final between Sabine Lisicki of Germany and Agnieszka Radwanska was one of the best women's matches seen on Centre Court in recent years. The conqueror of Serena Williams defeated the Pole 6-4, 2-6, 9-7 in a match of thrilling contrast.

Lisicki, who came back from 3-0 down in the final set, is the first German to make the Wimbledon final since seven-time champion Steffi Graf in 1999. She is also adventurous, strong and aggressive, and the match-up on Centre Court with the defensively brilliant Radwanska produced an enthralling contest. In contrast, and under a dimmed media spotlight, Marion Bartoli of France thrashed Belgian Kirsten Flipkens 6-1, 6-2 to reach her second Wimbledon final, six years after losing out to Venus Williams.

Lisicki, exalted by her victory over Williams and inspired by a text from Graf, has become the focal point in the women's tournament and her display against Radwanska yesterday was convincing in displaying her vigour, both physical and mental. But Bartoli is a singular character who will cause her problems tomorrow.

The 28-year-old Frenchwoman jogs on the spot between points, turns her back before receiving serve and pumps her fists so much she should have a forearm like Popeye. Her style and shape are unusual at the top level of the game. Squat, almost hefty, she has a two-handed style that produces shots of unexpected power. Crucially, she has the will to overcome the odds. The world No.15 was booed when she agitated against further play in her match against Sloane Stephens, fearing that the rain was making the court dangerous. She shrugged off the crowd's disfavour to confound Stephens, particularly with the accuracy of her returns.

Her victory against Flipkens was straightforward. The Belgian, with an injured leg, was unable to match her opponent in rallies or deal with an excellent serve.

Bartoli, unconventional on court, has a pre-match ritual that is beyond the capacity of most tennis players. When the adrenaline of a big match kicks in, most players indulge in a series of rituals, comforted by routine. Bartoli takes a nap. She described her routine thus: "I felt I was just maybe a bit tired and I needed a quick nap just to recover from my early-morning practice and everything I had to do to be ready to go on court. So it was just a quick nap of 15, 20 minutes, and go on court. But so far it's working extremely well, so I don't see why I should change that."

She guards against oversleeping by asking a physio to wake her 20 minutes before going on the court. "That's just the way I am," she said.

Bartoli would not rule out doing the same tomorrow, six years after her defeat by Venus Williams in her only other grand slam final. "The last time I was so young," she said. "I was every time the underdog coming out on court. This time I'm the highest-ranked player and I needed to put out a great performance to go through. I've been able to deal with the pressure really well, and keep improving throughout the championships, keep playing better. Today I think I played a great match."

She reflected on that loss in 2007 by pointing out that she had a short break between beating top seed Justine Henin in the semi-final before playing Williams within 24 hours. "It was hard physically to recover, where today I felt I played a fairly quick match and I have a day off, so I will be totally fresh to go into the final," she said.

She believes she is a different player now, adding: "I'm serving better. I'm doing everything just better. I'm able to hit the ball harder. I'm moving faster. I do just everything a bit better than I was doing six years ago."

Lisicki, too, has realised the promise she made in reaching the semi-finals of Wimbledon two years ago as a wildcard, when she lost to Maria Sharapova. She has overcome a serious ankle injury to make her way back to the top of the game and was inspired yesterday by Graf's message. "She wished me luck," said Lisicki. "She told me to go for it. I was just fighting for every single point. I fought my heart out."

She said her return from the ankle injury had been made easier because she has "a passion" for the game. This has been highly visible at Wimbledon 2013, but it does not overshadow that of Bartoli.

Sharapova, Serena Williams and other leading lights have gone but tomorrow has the capacity to provide a final of incident and intrigue.