Sabine Lisicki has been installed as the favourite to win Wimbledon after her sensational run to the semi-finals but perhaps the most remarkable thing about her performance is that she is ALLERGIC to grass.
The German caused the shock of the tournament when she beat Serena Williams in the fourth round and backed that win up with clinical 6-3 6-3 demolition of Kaia Kanepi in Tuesday's quarter-final.
That means she is in the Wimbledon semi-finals for the second time but in an interview conducted with the Tennis Space website last year, she revealed she wasn't always so in love with the green lawns of SW19.
"I used to hate grass. I have strong allergies to grass, and have to take medicine, but I have learnt how to handle this," she said.
"I think I lost five straight matches on grass in the beginning, plus one doubles, and then I turned it around in 2009 when I reached the Wimbledon quarter-finals.
"I have strong grass allergies and everything was against me liking grass, but at some point I just turned it around and I love it now.
"I have to take medicine for my allergies. I sneeze when I’m playing on the grass, but that’s just the way it is. I've learnt to handle that. I guess that’s fine. The most important thing is to be out there playing on it, and I love the tradition of the grass-court tournaments."
The 23-year-old's career has been checked by injury - she dropped outside the world's top 200 in 2011 - but her pedigree on a grasscourt is now well established.
One of the fastest servers on tour, Lisicki's Wimbledon record contrasts markedly with her performances in the three other Grand Slams.
She now has an 18-4 record in singles at the All-England club compared to 16-15 at the Australian, French and US Opens.
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