Wimbledon Women's Semifinals Preview - NYTimes.com WIMBLEDON, England - This is the first time that the semifinals of a Grand Slam event are without a Spanish man, an American woman or a Russian woman since Wimbledon 1998. Though it has been one of the most unpredictable Grand Slam events in recent memory, it has percolated into an especially unexpected final four on the women's side. While the top two seeds, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray, remain as tent poles on the men's side, only one of the four remaining women is ranked in the top 10, and none has won a Slam. This is the first time that there is not a former Grand Slam event champion among the last four women at a Grand Slam since the 2010 French Open, which was won by the No. 17 seed Francesca Schiavone. That said, this quartet is not as entirely preposterous as they are being made out to be. Two of the women have previously made Wimbledon finals (Marion Bartoli in 2007 and Agnieszka Radwanska in 2012), Sabine Lisicki has made one previous Wimbledon semifinal run and two previous quarterfinal runs, and Kirsten Flipkens reached the final of a grass court tournament in the Netherlands in the week before Wimbledon. With those credentials in mind, here's a look at the two semifinal matches, in the order they will be played on Centre Court Friday afternoon. Marion Bartoli vs. Kirsten Flipkens 15 Marion Bartoli is the oldest player of the four at 28. She is the only one not to have dropped a set yet, and she should be able to use her aggressive returning to gain control of many of the rallies against No. 20 Kirsten Flipkens. Flipkens is the quicker and more athletic of the two, and her lack of previous disappointments in the deep stages of these tournaments might make her feel less pressure than Bartoli, who has spoken openly about feeling as if she is in the later years of her career and running short on opportunities. If both play their best, Bartoli should be able to blast through Flipkens's court craft, but Flipkens is likely to be the freer of the two under this immense spotlight. Sabine Lisicki vs. Agnieszka Radwanska Agnieszka Radwanska has been several steps behind Serena Williams, Maria Sharapova and Victoria Azarenka, but with them out of the way and a huge ranking gap between the second-highest-ranked player remaining (No. 15 Bartoli), she should be considered a huge favorite. But No. 23 Sabine Lisicki, the lowest-ranked woman remaining in the tournament, is the betting favorite, and has been since her stunning dismissal of No. 1 Serena Williams on Monday. This is a match of contrasts: Radwanska is called the Magician for her soft touch and Lisicki is called Boom Boom for her power game, which seldom requires any subtlety whatsoever. Lisicki's style is the more likely of the two to implode under the weight of the occasion, but if she is firing missiles there will be little Radwanska can do but try to weather the storm. On these fast grass courts, as Williams found out, time may run out before Lisicki starts missing.