Afternoon folks. It's ladies' semi-final day and what huge pressure is on the four women who will take to Centre Court today. None of them has ever won a Grand Slam!

First up we have Bartoli and Flipkens. Who would have thought that we wouldn't see either Maria Sharapova or Victoria Azarenka in this bottom-half semi. It's been a tournament full of shocks this year but this match is so hard to call. There's no clear favourite.

Bartoli is the slight favourite with the bookmakers and I can only think that's because of her experience at this crucial stage of a Slam.

At 27, Flipkens is a relative grandma in reaching her first ever Grand Slam semi. She is the fairytale story of this tournament and has impressed many with her retro style of attacking net play.

In the quarter-finals, Flipkens defeated Petra Kvitova, the only remaining former champion in the last eight.

Bartoli, 28, made it to this match by seeing off up-and-coming American Sloane Stephens on Tuesday.

As mentioned, Bartoli's greatest achievement to date is arguably reaching the final here in 2007. She was mullered by Venus Williams 6-4 6-1 and will believe that she can go one better this year.

WEATHER WATCH! I'm sure you've read that there is a heat wave on its way this weekend. By tomorrow it should be in full swing but today we could see the odd humid shower in South West London. The latest forecast suggests that the rain should stay away and we'll have an uninterrupted afternoon.

As it is July 4, we should mention the surprising lack of Americans in either the men's or women's semi-finals. Serena Williams's exit to Sabine Lisicki ended their clear hope of a Wimbledon champion, but the lack of stars and stripes representatives is odd.

PREDICTION! The players will be walking out momentarily but, before they do, it's time for my thoughts on this first semi. I'm going to side with Flipkens. She dealt with big-hitting Kvitova in the last round and I think she can carry on her dream run at the tournament.

Both women look smiley backstage before they emerge out onto court. Centre is far from full at the moment as people finish off their lunches and prepare for an afternoon of neck ache.

H2H: We can't make anything of previous meetings between these two as there haven't been any. I think the match could swing on how well Bartoli serves. If she can hold comfortably and then trouble Flipkens's serve she could win it.

British umpire Alison Hughes announces that Bartoli won the toss and chose to serve.

Warm-ups done. Flipkens gets out on court early before Bartoli jogs out to the baseline. "First set, Miss Marion Bartoli to serve. Ready? Play."

Good start for the French lady as she blasts down a 101mph second serve and Flipkens can only hit long.

She follows that up with a double fault. Pas bon, as the French would say.

We have our first proper rally of the match at 30-15 and Flipkens displays her devilish backhand slice and Bartoli can't move well enough to handle it. 30-30.

Bartoli earns a game point as Flipkens's forehand falters after an extended rally. If you didn't already know, Bartoli possesses one of the most peculiar shots in the game with her two-handed forehand.

Bartoli holds to 30 after a great rally to end the opening game. The Frenchwoman approaches and Flipkens pulls off a lob that Bartoli sprints back to carry on the rally. Flipkens is at the net but she dumps her forehand volley into the net.

Bartoli attacks the Flipkens second serve at 15-30 and it's two early break points for the 15th seed.

BREAK! Another return that Flipkens can't handle and that's the first break of the match.

Bartoli with her second double fault and Flipkens has a glimmer of an instant break back at 15-30.

Flipkens plonks a forehand return right onto the baseline and it's 30-40 and BREAK-BACK POINT...

Brilliantly saved by Bartoli! Flipkens is on the defensive but she's happy like that. Bartoli changes up the pace by launching an in-to-out backhand that Flipkens just gets back but she can do nothing about a similar shot that's even nearer the line. Deuce.

Two first serves, including an ace to finish, see Bartoli hang on to her serve and she's had a dream start to this semi-final.

She's really fired up here, is Bartoli. Flipkens hasn't even begun her next service game and Bartoli is bouncing around on the baseline pumping her fist.

Worst line judge call of the Championships? Bartoli's return is called in but HawkEye shows that it was a good distance out.

Flipkens is on the board and she'll now hope to put some pressure on the Bartoli serve.

Flipkens with an absolute gem of a slice and then forehand winner to move 15-30 ahead. Bartoli wins the next three to hold though without offering a second break point of the match to the Belgian.

Excellent play from Bartoli! She doesn't get carried away as Flipkens continues to float back slices before changing up the rally with a drop shot and then lobbing her opponent. Clever tactics.

TWO DOUBLE-BREAK POINTS for Bartoli as she finds a forehand down the line with Flipkens at the net.

DOUBLE BREAK! Bartoli returns into the net to waste the first but converts on the second, tracking down Flipkens's drop shot before swatting away the easy volley presented to her. She'll now serve for the set.

SET! Bartoli's second ACE wraps up the set in just 27 minutes. Flipkens just needs to forget all about that and imagine that you have to win two sets in a row to reach the Wimbledon final.

The reason that was such a whitewash is because Flipkens didn't serve well and Bartoli attacked the second serve successfully. Flipkens doesn't have the firepower to take this by the scruff of the neck herself so she needs Bartoli to start faltering and also serve a hell of a lot better.

Flipkens is 0-30 down at the start of a second as Bartoli's mishit return just dips over the net for an ugly winner. The Belgian does hits a confidence-boosting forehand winner just in the corner to score her first point of the set on the next.

BREAK! A backhand pass opens up break point for Bartoli and she snaps her opponent's serve for the third time this match with a sublime lob. Is there any way back for Flipkens here?

I hope Lisicki and Radwanska are ready for their semi. This one could be over very soon. Bartoli holds to love and Flipkens then asks for the trainer at the next change of ends.

Flipkens's right knee is heavily strapped and that could be the reason for her decision to call for help. You have to feel that she might just want some extra time to have a long hard think about the mauling she's being subjected to here.

The Belgian gets a huge round of applause for pulling off a lovely half-volley at the net to bring the third game back to 15-15.

It's soon 15-40 once more though and TWO MORE BREAK POINTS for Bartoli...

DOUBLE BREAK!She takes the first as Flipkens can only shoot a forehand into the net post. Bartoli sprints back to her chair, almost rubbing in just how bubbly and happy she is at the moment. A moment later Flipkens trudges past her and she's now being analysed by the trainer.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, Miss Flipkens is now receiving a medical timeout," umpire Hughes tells the crowd. Flipkens is lying on the grass and having that heavily-strapped right knee treated.

Flipkens is fit to carry on and she begins the game with an encouraging return winner down the line. That's just her sixth clean winner of the match. Bartoli has 15.

Flipkens shots seem to have a bit more zip after that timeout and she's now at 15-30 as her slice down the line takes a nasty kick of the baseline and Bartoli completely misses the ball.

ONE BREAK BACK! A roar goes up inside Centre Court as Flipkens instantly breaks after that medical timeout. Can she now improve her serve?

Not a great start as Flipkens slumps to 0-30 with a double fault.

DOUBLE BREAK! Bartoli immediately reinstates the double-break advantage to dampen Centre Court's hopes of a Flipkens comeback. At 30-40, Flipkens comes to the net and Bartoli again lobs her opponent. The Belgian does manage, this time, to get a racket to it but she can only direct it out.

A love-hold for Bartoli, finishing off the game with her fourth ACE of the match. She's now one game away from her second Wimbledon final.

Flipkens matches Bartoli in holding to love, forcing her opponent to serve the match out. We've had exactly one hour of play on Centre.

Bartoli must know that she has this game in the bag but she's still incredibly driven. Bopping around on the baseline after each point. She's two points away at 30-0.

Flipkens delayed the inevitable with a nice forehand-backhand combo, but on the next point Bartoli seals a place in the Wimbledon final with an overhead winner.

The duo embrace at the net before Bartoli's achievement gets the better of her. She breaks into tears sat in her chair before leaving the court.

A devastating performance from the 28-year-old, but the crowd will be disappointed at the lack of a contest there. Bartoli tells BBC Sport: "I really can't believe it right now. I played so well today & feeling so great. Kirsten had a great run. I want to congratulate her." She also says that she was seeing the tennis ball like a football today.

Next up on Centre Court it's Sabine Lisicki and Agnieszka Radwanska. Surely that one will be more competitive. Our coverage of that one will be live on site shortly. See you there.