Power-packed Sabine Lisicki, having taken care of Chinese superstar Li Na in the second round at Wimbledon, will look to end Japanese qualifier Misaki Doi's magical run and make the last 16 on Saturday.
Lisicki, boasting a plus-120mph serve which Li compared to facing a man on the other side of the net, is relishing her All England Club fairytale.
Last year a serious ankle injury left her sidelined for four months and struggling around on crutches.
Her ranking plummeted so badly that the blonde 21-year-old needed a wildcard to get into the Wimbledon main draw.
Decision vindicated
The organisers' decision was vindicated when Lisicki, who was World No. 22 when disaster struck, saved two match points to dump French Open champion Li out of this year's tournament.
But Lisicki admits she will be entering unknown territory when she tackles World No. 133 Doi in Saturday's third round.
“I don't know anything about her, but right now I'm enjoying my match against Li,” she said.
“I'm just happy to be in the next round and I'll enjoy it more than ever and hopefully I'll play well again.”
Lisicki won the Wimbledon warm-up event at Birmingham last week to illustrate the grasscourt credentials which carried her to last eight at the All England Club in 2009.
But it's been a tough road back after her ranking slumped to 218 and her French Open campaign last month ended in tears when she was stretchered off court with another injury in her match against Vera Zvonareva.
“It's been such a long and hard road to come back from my injury. I really had to start from zero,” she said.
“I literally had no muscles in my left calf after seven weeks on crutches. So I had to start to learn how to walk again. But that makes these moments right now all the sweeter.”
Doi, who defeated US 30th seed Bethanie Mattek-Sands in the first round, followed that up with a 6-3, 6-1 win over China's Zheng Jie, a semifinalist in 2004, to reach the last 32 on her debut.
Her defeat, as well as Li's unexpected early exit, left Peng Shuai as China's only player left in the Wimbledon singles.
Lisicki smilingly said she regretted having disappointed millions of Chinese fans.
“I'm sorry, but out there on the court it's one against one. You have to beat the opponent you're playing.
“So that's all I was thinking about. I'm sure Germany's proud of me right now,” she added.
