Maria Sharapova, the Russian star with the California address who is still one of the world’s most visible sports figures, will enjoy her first Grand Slam final since the 2008 Australian Open.

“Today wasn’t my best match of the championships, so I was real happy to get through in two sets,” Sharapova said. “But it’s pretty amazing to be back on that stage.”

She appeared to have stage fright in the early going against Lisicki, the big-serving German who reached the semifinals as a wild card. Sharapova’s serve — an ongoing issue since her comeback from shoulder surgery in 2009 — was shaky again, but she is through and that is all that matters.

“The first three games she played very well, and I did quite the opposite,” Sharapova said. “And then, you know, I told myself to take it one point at a time and really focus. I felt like I just kind of got in my zone.”

There was plenty of shaky tennis from there, but there was also some classic Sharapova: huge, flat ground strokes struck at sharp angles with full-blown self-belief.