On Thursday, Sharapova will play Lisicki, the 62nd-ranked German who became only the second wild card to reach the women's semis at Wimbledon after Zheng Jie in 2008. The (fifth-ranked) Azarenka of Belarus plays No. 8 Kvitova of the Czech Republic.

Sharapova followed up her Wimbledon title by winning the 2006 U.S. Open and 2008 Australian Open. However, shoulder (surgery) in 2008 derailed her for the next 10 months and forced a drastic change of her service motion. After (dominating) Dominika Cibulkova of Slovakia 6-1, 6-1 on Tuesday, she finally looks close to being the same player who reached the No. 1 ranking in 2005.

Sharapova hasn't been this far at Wimbledon since 2006. The Williams sisters have (dominated) the grass-court Grand Slam, winning nine of the last 11 crowns. Venus and Serena were eliminated in the fourth round — along with top-ranked Caroline Wozniacki — leaving Sharapova as the favorite to emerge with another title.

First, she has to get past those young (challengers). None are exactly new faces in women's tennis, the way Sharapova was when she had her breakthrough.