Rediff

London, Jul 7: Marion Bartoli stunned top seed Justine Henin to reach the Wimbledon final on Friday, beating the world number one 1-6, 7-5, 6-1.

The 22-year-old Frenchwoman, seeded 18th, produced a dazzling display to hit back from a torrid first set and book a Saturday showdown with three-times champion Venus Williams.

"I'm so excited to be in the final, it's a dream come true," Bartoli said after completing the biggest victory of her career.

"I was so stressed in the first set because it was my first time on Centre Court but then I just forgot about who I was playing and played the ball."

Henin, chasing the only grand slam title to elude her, looked invincible during a 22-minute first set, swishing away baseline winners at will.

Bartoli, whose previous best run at a grand slam was the fourth round at last month's French Open, suddenly relaxed and began striking the ball with more confidence.

She broke for a 3-1 lead, only for Henin quickly to snuff out the danger. Henin then seemed set to regain control when a rolled backhand gave her another break to lead 4-3.

Bartoli responded in the next game with a pummelled backhand winner to make it 4-4. Henin squandered two break points at 5-5 and was made to pay when she lost her serve to love, Bartoli thrashing away a volley to level the match.

Fired up and clearly revelling in the atmosphere, Bartoli's tennis reached near perfection for the next five games as she pulled Henin all over the court.

Banging double-fisted drives into the corners, crafting clever angles and delicate drop shots she gave Henin the runaround to lead 5-0.

Henin managed to stop the rot by holding serve but Bartoli showed no nerves to close out the match on her first match point when a shell-shocked Henin hit long.