London, Jul 1: Maria Sharapova was not at her best in the semi-final encounter against Germany's Sabine Lisicki at Women's singles event of the Wimbledon 2011, but nevertheless still managed to convincingly beat her opponent 6-4 6-3. The Russian fashionista will now take on Petra Kvitova in the finals of the event.

This will be her first final appearance at the Big W since she burst into international limelight after winning the 2004 edition as a bubbly teenager.

It was not all rosy for Sharapova as she struggled for the most part of three games to get the ball in court. It appeared that she was probably under a bit of pressure to ward off the challenge to enter the finals as she struggled to serve, lashing forehands into the net.

But then as it happens with most unheralded players who face big names of the games Lisicki seemed to be overawed by the situation and stumbled with the gradually increasing grunts of Sharapova.

The Russian must consider herself lucky to win the encounter, despite a below-par so, but that should not prove a deterrent for an imminent victory in the finals. She was quick to acknowledge that and at the post-match conference said, "But the next match starts from scratch. Everything that kind of went before, that doesn't really matter."

Speaking about the game she said, "It's a great feeling. It's been many years, but it's a really great feeling. Today wasn't my best match of the championships so I was real happy to get through in two sets. So yeah, it's pretty amazing to be back on that stage."

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