France's Marion Bartoli tonight caused one of the greatest upsets in Wimbledon history by beating top seed Justine Henin in the semi-finals.
Bartoli recovered from a set and a break down to stun Henin on Centre Court, ending the world No1's bid for a career Grand Slam. Few had given the 18th seed any chance of victory, and a routine win looked on the cards when Henin raced through the first set in 22 minutes for the loss of just one game.
But Bartoli, who had won just four matches in four previous visits to Wimbledon, staged an amazing fightback to record a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory and now faces three-time champion Venus Williams in tomorrow's final. Henin had quickly taken command of the match, breaking Bartoli to love in the second game of a match switched from court one to Centre Court due to the five-hour epic between Novak Djokovic and Marcos Baghdatis.
Bartoli, the most unlikely semi-finalist since Mirjana Lucic and qualifier Alexandra Stevenson reached the last four in 1999, got on the board by holding serve in the fourth game, but Henin was simply a class apart. A second break of serve was created with the aid of a trademark backhand winner and Henin served out to take the set 6-1 in just 22 minutes.
Henin had won both previous meetings between the pair, including a 6-1, 6-3 victory in the semi-finals at Eastbourne last month. A similar scoreline always looked the most likely outcome, especially when the world No1 broke serve again in the opening game of the second set.
To Bartoli's credit she broke straight back, creating a third break point with the rally of the match as the players traded reaction volleys from close quarters at the net. Henin was so impressed she sportingly applauded her opponent, but her mood quickly changed as she dropped her serve again in the fourth game to fall 3-1 behind.
Just as Roger Federer had responded to losing his first set of the championships to Juan Carlos Ferrero, Henin suddenly raised her game several notches, the 24-year-old Belgian winning the next three games in a row, breaking Bartoli twice.
That looked like being the decisive moment, but Bartoli had clearly not read the script. The 22-year-old broke back immediately and once more to love in the 12th game to snatch the set 7-5 and give herself a chance of creating a massive upset. Bartoli was producing some inspired tennis in the late evening sunshine, saving two break points at the start of the decider and then firing a brilliant backhand winner down the line to break for a 2-0 lead.
The world number 19 then saved two more break points to make it 3-0 and then, barely believably, won the next two games as well, with Henin unable to find an answer to her probing groundstrokes.
Henin held serve to finally get on the scoreboard and at least test Bartoli's nerves as she tried to serve for the match. It was a test she passed with flying colours, serving out to love to complete a quite stunning victory which deservedly drew a standing ovation from the packed Centre Court crowd.