WIMBLEDON, England -- Maria Sharapova looked like a champion under the Centre Court roof at Wimbledon, advancing to the semifinals at the All England Club for the first time since 2006 with a 6-1, 6-1 win Tuesday over Dominika Cibulkova. cheap jerseys . Sharapova, the only Wimbledon champion remaining in the womens draw after the Williams sisters were eliminated a day earlier, won eight straight games to win the first set and take control of the second. The fifth-seeded Russian has not lost a set at this years tournament, and she was nowhere near losing one Tuesday. "Its been a few years since I got past the fourth round, and now Im in the semifinals," said Sharapova, who won the tournament in 2004 and also reached the semifinals in 05. "So this a great chance for me to take it a step further." Sharapova will face German wild-card entry Sabine Lisicki. She reached her first Grand Slam semifinal by beating 2007 finalist Marion Bartoli 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-1 on another wet day at Wimbledon. "This is a player thats playing with a tremendous amount of confidence right now and playing really great grass-court tennis, so itll be a really tough match but I certainly look forward to it," Sharapova said. Cibulkova held serve in the first game against Sharapova, but couldnt hold another. The only hiccup in the match for Sharapova came in the third game of the second set when Cibulkova broke. Sharapova won her first Grand Slam title at the All England Club when she was only 17. She added the U.S. Open title in 2006 and the Australian Open title in 2008, but has not won another since -- mainly because of shoulder problems and surgery. "Well, to be in the semis of Wimbledon is a bonus," said Sharapova, who finished with 23 winners and five aces. "To be able to come back and play tennis after a big injury -- I was just quite happy to be back on the court. So to achieve this is wonderful. But the tournament isnt over." But with the Williams sisters, who have combined to win nine of the last 11 Wimbledon titles, both losing in the fourth round, Sharapova may be the one with the experience needed to win. The rain briefly delayed the start of play Tuesday as the roof was closed, while the opening match on Court 1 started after a 2 1/2-hour delay. Once it did, Petra Kvitova of the Czech Republic reached the Wimbledon semifinals for the second year in a row, defeating Tsvetana Pironkova of Bulgaria 6-3, 6-7 (5), 6-2. Pironkova, who eliminated Venus Williams from the tournament for the second straight, lost in the semifinals last year. Kvitova will next face Victoria Azarenka, the highest-ranked player remaining in the womens tournament. The fourth-seeded Azarenka defeated Tamira Paszek 6-3, 6-1 in a match that started on Court 1 but was moved to Centre Court because of rain after just one game. In the second game of the second set, Azarenka pulled off a forehand winner on break point that didnt even have to clear the net. Instead, the Belarusian ran down a shot to her right and smacked it outside the post and into the court on the other side. In mixed doubles, the eighth-seeded Torontos Daniel Nestor and Yung-Jan Chan of Taiwan advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Ashley Fisher of Australia and Natalie Grandin of South Africa. In junior boys doubles, Filip Peliwo of North Vancouver, B.C., and Belgiums Kimmer Coppejans dropped a 6-4, 6-2 decision to Julien Cagnina and Joris De Loore of Belgium in first-round play. With heavy rain causing a racket as it pelted down on the retractable white cover over the court, Lisicki used drop shots to perfection in the first two sets, becoming only the second wild-card entry to reach the womens semifinals at the All England Club. "I cannot explain how I feel at the moment," said Lisicki, the first German Grand Slam semifinalist since Steffi Graf in 1999. "It was just such a tough road back and its so wonderful to be standing on Centre Court in Wimbledon which I love so much. Im just so happy." Lisicki served for the match at 5-4 in the second and held three match points, but Bartoli saved them all. On the second, Lisicki went to her go-to drop shot but put it into the net. Bartoli eventually broke back -- when Lisicki double-faulted for the first time -- and then won the tiebreaker. "I was very disappointed with myself how I played at 5-4, that game, because I missed easily," said Lisicki, who has won 15 of her last 16 matches on grass and eliminated French Open champion Li Na in the second round. "I felt that I was the better player today and I knew I just had to focus and fight again in the third set to win it." In the third set, Lisicki broke to take a 3-0 lead, and then again to make it 5-1. She won when the tiring Bartoli put a forehand into the net. "My mind was trying extremely hard, but just my body couldnt do anything anymore," said Bartoli, who beat four-time champion Serena Williams on Monday. "I still fought very hard, especially in that second set. ... I have no regrets." Lisicki, who finished the match with 52 winners to Bartolis 12, reached the quarter-finals at the All England Club two years ago but lost to Dinara Safina. Lisicki survived a scare early in the match, but it had nothing to do with tennis or even her opponent. After serving at 30-15 in the second game of the match, Lisicki shuddered when a loud blast of thunder rang out overhead. She then lost the next two points and eventually the game, but recovered and broke for the second time in three games to take a 2-1 lead. Lisicki improved to 3-1 against Bartoli. Her only loss came in the first round at Wimbledon in 2008, a year after Bartoli reached the final at the All England Club but lost to Venus Williams. Earlier Tuesday, Rafael Nadal said his left foot, which he injured during Mondays fourth-round win over Juan Martin del Potro, is not seriously injured and he will play in the Wimbledon quarter-finals. "Yesterday after the match I went to take an MRI at a London hospital," Nadal said in a statement. "During the match I thought I had something serious but as the match went through the pain got better and thankfully the tests dont show an injury." Nadal is scheduled to play Mardy Fish in the quarter-finals on Wednesday. "Today I will practice at 4:30 p.m. and Ill play tomorrow," Nadal said. Nadal, a two-time champion at the All England Club, hurt his foot in the first set of Mondays win over del Potro. He twice called for a trainer during the set, but still managed to win 7-6 (6), 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-4. Nadal is 30-2 at Wimbledon since the start of the 2006 tournament. He lost to Roger Federer that year and the next in the final, but then beat the Swiss in the 2008 championship match. Nadal was unable to defend his title in 2009 because of injury, but he won again in 2010. Also Tuesday, U.S. Open golf champion Rory McIlroy paid a visit to Wimbledon, meeting Andy Murray and John McEnroe. McIlroy sat in the Royal Box for the first two singles matches but left the grounds shortly after Sharapova won. Cheap Buffalo Sabres Jerseys . The NHL and National Hockey League Players Association announced Thursday they are partnering with the You Can Play Project, an organization aimed at eliminating homophobia in athletics. ... Houston Rockets Jerseys . After a stellar Royals debut in a relief role on Friday, Paulino will make his first start of the season this afternoon and try to pitch his new club to a series victory over the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim at Kauffman Stadium. http://www.chinawholesalenflc... . Two people familiar with the talks say that the NFL and the locked out officials union met Sunday. [url=http://www.cheapnfljerseys2015.us.com/]nfl jerseys china . It was well worth the wait. Manning and the Denver Broncos waited eight long months, then another 33 minutes to get the season started because of a lightning storm. Cheap Atlanta Braves Jerseys . St. Louis catcher Yadier Molina stood up, spoke softly to his pal and twice patted him on the side.The Atlanta Braves swept the St. Louis Cardinals in St. Louis and took over top spot in the TSN.ca MLB Power Rankings as a result. The Braves have been an offensive juggernaut lately, led by 40-year-old third baseman Chipper Jones, who is hitting .366 with a 1.008 OPS in May. St. Louis slides to second spot and the Washington Nationals, despite several significant injuries, have risen to third spot. Powered by third baseman Brandon Inge, of all people, the Oakland As moved from 18 to 13, while the Chicago White Sox moved from 25 to 19, on the strength of Chris Sale returning to the starting rotation. Its certainly not any credit to the left side of the White Sox infield, which has been absurdly unproductive. Losing five of their last seven dropped the Cleveland Indians from eight to 12, while the San Francisco Giants and their popgun offence slipped from 10 to 15. nfl jerseys china. . Losing five of seven, combined with the loss of starting catcher Chris Iannetta to the DL moved the L.A. Angels of Anaheim to 26 from 21 and two wins in the last dozen games caught up to the Arizona Diamondbacks, who plummeted from 16 to 27. The Toronto Blue Jays lost one spot, down to 14 as they have been competitive, but own a 3-6 record in their last nine games. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. ' ' '