Wimbledon set to crown `new ladies champion` for first time in years

London: Wimbledon will have a different ladies champion for the first time in two years, after a series of upsets that shocked fans this year paved way for new stars such as Sabine Lisicki to take charge after reaching the semi-finals.

The German beat defending champion Serena Williams in three sets in the fourth round, becoming a fast favourite with the bookies to win the tournament, especially after easing through Estonian Kaia Kanepi to reach the last four. Other semi-finalists include the impressive Pole Agniezska Radwanska, who was voted as the WTA`s most popular player for two consecutive years, beating China`s superstar Li Na in a tight quarterfinal where she took complete control in the final set. 2011 champion Petra Kvitova too went away in a close match against Belgium`s Kirsten`s Flipkens, making the list of upsets in this year`s Wimbledon ever longer. American tennis` new superstar Sloane Stephens was also quite a favourite to win the title after the exit of her idol Serena Williams, but the young player too went down to French Marion Bartoli, who received boos from the crowd after demanding the match to be stopped when she was leading 5-4, 40-40, because of light rain. The ladies semi-finals will be played on the Centre Court on Thursday with the men`s quarterfinals to be played today. The spectators for this year`s Wimbledon have dropped after top players like Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Jo Wilfried Tsonga and others exited early into the tournament. ANI