Maria Sharapova (Photo : Sportrageous)
Maria Sharapova will try to end an 11-year drought in Wimbledon against his fiercest rival Serena Williams in semi-finals on Thursday at Centre Court.
Sharapova was just 17 when she defeated Williams in the final to claim her first Grand Slam title.
Williams admitted she saves her best performances for clashes against Maria Sharapova and that the Russian brings out the best in her.
On the other hand, Sharapova said she relishes the challenge of playing the American and would love to change her fortunes against her.
The 28-year-old Sharapova has five Grand Slam titles and is the world's highest paid female athlete but trails the 33-year-old American 17-2 in their head to head matchup.
Willaims won their last 16 meetings and depriving Sharapova of three major titles -- in the 2007 and 2015 Australian Open finals and the 2013 French Open final.
A 20-time Grand Slam champion, Williams has now won 26 straight matches in the majors dating back to last year's Wimbledon.
Williams had to rally to defeat Victoria Azarenka 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the last eight.
Meanwhile, Sharapova won over Coco Vandeweghe 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-2.
The match had its share of controveries as Vandeweghe, who was in her first Grand Slam quarterfinal match, accused Sharapova of poor sportsmanship for continuously moving around after a service motion.
The 23-year-old Vandeweghe, who is ranked 47th in the world, kept battling after losing the opening set and trailing 5-3 in the second. She eventually took the match into a deciding set.
The other semi-final is between Agnieszka Radwanska and Garbine Muguruza.
Radwanska defeated Madison Keys 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 while Muguruza beat Timea Bacsinszky 7-5, 6-3.
Radwanska lost to Williams in her only major final at the Wimbledon three years ago. She made it back to the tournament's semifinal in 2013. She lost in the fourth round of the Wimbledon last year.
