Sabine Katharina Lisicki (; born 22 September 1989) is a German professional tennis player.
Lisicki turned professional in 2006, and her breakthrough came in 2009 when she reached the quarterfinals of the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...
, and also won her first title on the
WTA Tour
The WTA Tour is a worldwide top-tier tennis tour for women organized by the Women's Tennis Association. The second-tier tour is the WTA 125K series, and third-tier is the ITF Women's Circuit. The men's equivalent is the ATP Tour.
WTA Tour tou ...
, at the
Family Circle Cup. In March 2010, she suffered an ankle injury at the
Indian Wells Open that kept her out of competition for five months and saw her fall out of the top 200. Lisicki rebounded in 2011 and won the
Eastbourne Classic before entering the
Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...
as a
wildcard and going on to reach the semifinals, where she lost to
Maria Sharapova
Maria Yuryevna Sharapova ( , ; rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Шара́пова, p=mɐˈrʲijə ʂɐˈrapəvə, a=Maria_sharapova.ogg; born 19 April 1987) is a Russian former world No. 1 tennis player. She competed on the WTA Tour from 2 ...
. In doing so she became only the second woman in
Wimbledon history to make it to the semifinals while entering the tournament as a wildcard. She followed that two months later by winning her third WTA tournament, the
Texas Open. In 2012, she achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 12 and again reached the quarterfinals of
Wimbledon. Again, in 2012 she suffered from another ankle injury that prevented her from having better results on tour. Lisicki reached the final of the
2013 Wimbledon Championships, losing to
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
. The following year, she had another quarterfinal at
Wimbledon and won her first title in three years when she won the
Hong Kong Open.
In doubles, Lisicki won the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in
2011 with
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten ...
and in
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...
with
Mona Barthel
Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player.
Barthel has won four singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Cir ...
and the
2014 Miami Masters
The 2014 Sony Open Tennis (also known as 2014 Miami Masters) was a professional men and women's tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts. It was the 30th edition of the Miami Masters, and was part of the Masters 1000 category on the 2014 A ...
with coach
Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks ...
. She also reached the doubles final at Wimbledon in
2011 with Stosur and came fourth in the
mixed-doubles event at the
2012 London Olympics
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
with
Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas (born 13 June 1980) is a retired German tennis player.
Kas has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 224, which he achieved in November 2002. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in Februa ...
.
Between 2014 and 2018, Lisicki held the world record for the
fastest serve by a female tennis player. A serve was measured during her first-round encounter against
Ana Ivanovic at the
2014 Stanford Classic.
She also held the record for the
most aces in a singles match, hitting 27 aces during her second-round encounter against
Belinda Bencic at the
2015 Birmingham Classic, until it was surpassed by
Kristýna Plíšková at the
2016 Australian Open.
Early life
Lisicki's parents emigrated to West Germany from Poland in 1979; her father, Dr. Richard Lisicki, is of German and Polish descent and her mother, Elisabeth, of Polish. They came to Germany as "
Spätaussiedler
The right of return is a principle in international law which guarantees everyone's right of voluntary return to, or re-entry to, their country of origin or of citizenship. The right of return is part of the broader human rights concept freedom of ...
", descended from German citizens who lived in the
former eastern territories of Germany
The former eastern territories of Germany (german: Ehemalige deutsche Ostgebiete) refer in present-day Germany to those territories east of the current eastern border of Germany i.e. Oder–Neisse line which historically had been considered Ger ...
which had become
part of Poland after World War II. In a 2009 interview with the German newspaper ''
Die Welt
''Die Welt'' ("The World") is a German national daily newspaper, published as a broadsheet by Axel Springer SE.
''Die Welt'' is the flagship newspaper of the Axel Springer publishing group. Its leading competitors are the ''Frankfurter Allg ...
'', her father put emphasis on Lisicki being German: "Sabine is a German – not only because of her birth here
n Germany"
Lisicki was born in
Troisdorf, North Rhine-Westphalia, in 1989. Her father, who introduced her to the sport at the age of seven, has a doctorate in sport science and is her coach. Her mother is a painter specialising in ceramics.
Career
Early years
Since 2004, Lisicki has trained at the Nick Bollettieri Tennis Academy in
Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...
, where she is sponsored and managed by
IMG. She is coached by her father, who studied sport science in
Wrocław
Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...
and
Cologne
Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 million inhabitants in the city proper and 3.6 millio ...
.
Early in her career, Lisicki could not fly to tournaments because of a lack of funding. She had to be driven across Europe in a car by her parents so that she could attend tournaments. Lisicki said: "My parents did everything possible to let me play tennis. That's what I appreciated so much. My dad has worked from 8 in the morning til 9 in the evening to make it possible so I can play tennis. We had to cancel tournaments because we couldn't afford to go there."
In 2006, Lisicki competed at the
Sunfeast Open in Kolkata, where she defeated Ragini Vimal in the first, but lost in the final qualifying round to
Sanaa Bhambri
Sanaa Bhambri ( hi, सना भाम्बरी; born 7 March 1988) is a former professional tennis player from India. Her highest doubles ranking is world No. 298, which she achieved October 2005. She won one $25k doubles event at Lagos, ...
.
She competed in her first WTA Tour main-draw match when she was given a wildcard to play at the
German Open German Open is a name given to many sports events established in Germany, and include:
*German Open (badminton), an annual badminton tournament held since 1955.
*German Open (golf), was a golf tournament on the European Tour
*German Masters, a snook ...
. She lost in the first round to
Mara Santangelo, in three sets.
Lisicki had a successful year in 2007 on the
ITF Circuit and climbed from world No. 497 to No. 198 in the
WTA rankings
The WTA rankings are the ratings defined by the Women's Tennis Association, introduced in November 1975.
Iga Świątek is the current world No. 1.
Ranking method
The WTA rankings are based on a rolling 52-week, cumulative system. A pla ...
. She won two titles, one in Jersey and the other in Toronto. She defeated top-seed
Katie O'Brien at the
Vancouver Open.
2008: Start of the journey
At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, her first Grand Slam tournament, she defeated the 16th-seeded player,
Dinara Safina, as well as
Mariya Koryttseva to reach the third round as a qualifier. She lost her third round match to
Caroline Wozniacki. In the first round of the
Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
against the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
, Lisicki defeated
Lindsay Davenport in straight sets.
Lisicki next reached the fourth round of the
Miami Open, a
Tier I event, where she defeated sixth seeded
Anna Chakvetadze in straight sets, but was defeated in the next round by
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver meda ...
.
At
Wimbledon, Lisicki lost in the first round to the 2007 runner-up, 11th seed
Marion Bartoli
Marion Bartoli (; born 2 October 1984) is a French former professional tennis player. Bartoli won the 2013 Wimbledon Championships singles title after previously being runner-up in 2007, and was a semifinalist at the 2011 French Open. She also ...
.
In October, Lisicki reached her first WTA tournament final at the Tashkent Open, where she lost in three sets to fellow teenager
Sorana Cîrstea.
2009: Breakthrough year
Lisicki started her year at the
Hopman Cup in
Perth
Perth is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the Australian states and territories of Australia, state of Western Australia. It is the list of cities in Australia by population, fourth most populous city in Aust ...
where she advanced to the third round before losing to
Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win the ...
in straight sets. At the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, Lisicki defeated the 30th seed
Aleksandra Wozniak
Aleksandra Wozniak ( pl, Woźniak; born September 7, 1987) is a Canadian former tennis player. She turned professional in November 2005, and achieved a career-best ranking of No. 21 in June 2009, making her the fifth highest-ranked Canadian singl ...
in the opening round before losing to
Samantha Stosur
Samantha Jane Stosur ( ; born 30 March 1984) is an Australian professional tennis player. She is a former world No. 1 in doubles, a ranking which she first achieved on 6 February 2006 and held for 61 consecutive weeks. Also a former top ten ...
in straight sets. She then took part in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
's 3–2 win over
Switzerland in their
Fed Cup World Group II tie, defeating
Timea Bacsinszky but losing to
Patty Schnyder.
At the
Cellular South Cup in Memphis, Lisicki reached the semifinals, defeating third seed
Lucie Šafářová
Lucie Šafářová (; born 4 February 1987) is a Czech former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and No. 5 in singles.
She is a five-time Grand Slam champion in doubles, having won the 2015 Australian Open, 201 ...
on the way before losing to eventual winner
Victoria Azarenka
Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former ...
. Lisicki then took part in the first
Premier Mandatory tournament of the year in North America. At the
Indian Wells Open, she lost in the first round to
Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon C ...
. At the
Miami Open, she lost in the second round to 26th seed
Iveta Benešová.

During the clay-court season, Lisicki lost in the second round of the
Amelia Island Championships in Ponte Vedra Beach to eventual finalist and fifth seed Aleksandra Wozniak. On the green clay at the
Charleston Open in, Lisicki won her first WTA Tour title without dropping a set, defeating the fifth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the final. She had previously defeated second seeded Venus Williams in the third round and No. 6 seed Marion Bartoli in the semifinals. She then took part in Germany's
Fed Cup World Group play-off win against
China. She defeated world No. 16
Zheng Jie in the first singles match, and partnered with
Anna-Lena Grönefeld to win the decisive doubles match.
Lisicki advanced to the second round of the
Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart before losing to third-seeded
Jelena Janković
Jelena Janković ( sr-Cyrl, Јелена Јанковић, ; born 28 February 1985) is a Serbian former tennis player. A former world No. 1, Janković reached the top ranking before her career-best major performance, a runner-up finish at the ...
in straight sets. She then advanced to the quarterfinals at the
Portugal Open
The Portugal Open (formerly named Estoril Open) was an ATP and WTA clay court tennis tournament in Portugal. The event took place at the sports complex of Jamor in Oeiras, of which Estoril Court Central is the most prominent show court. In 201 ...
where she lost to compatriot Anna-Lena Grönefeld, retiring when 6–2 down. At the
French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
, Lisicki lost to Lucie Šafářová in the first round.
On her first match on grass at the
Eastbourne International, Lisicki lost to Samantha Stosur in the first round. In doubles, Lisicki and her partner
Ana Ivanovic lost in the first round to
Cara Black and
Liezel Huber
Liezel Huber (née Horn; born 21 August 1976) is a South African- American retired tennis player who represented the United States internationally since August 2007. Huber has won four Grand Slam titles in women's doubles with partner Cara B ...
.
Lisicki played her first
Grand Slam quarterfinal at
Wimbledon, where she was beaten by world No. 1, Dinara Safina. On her way to the quarterfinal, she had defeated Anna Chakvetadze in the first round,
Patricia Mayr in the second, the 2009 French Open champion and fifth seed
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Svetlana Aleksandrovna Kuznetsova (born 27 June 1985) is a Russian inactive professional tennis player. She is a two-time major singles champion, winning the 2004 US Open and 2009 French Open, and finishing runner-up at two other majors. ...
in the third round, and ninth seed Caroline Wozniacki in the fourth.
Seeded 23rd, Lisicki advanced to the second round at the 2009 US Open, but lost to qualifier Anastasia Rodionova. On 3 September 2009, daytime, Rodionova's match point, Lisicki slipped while going to return a backhand and injured her left ankle. She left the court in a wheelchair as Rodionova advanced to the third round. Lisicki later reported that an MRI showed no tears. The injury was a sprain, and Lisicki returned to her base in Florida for rehabilitation.
She returned to the tour at the
Pan Pacific Open at the end of September, where she reached the second round before losing in three sets to seventh seed Jelena Janković.
In October, she reached the final of the
Luxembourg Open, but lost to Timea Bacsinszky. On her way to the final she beat Iveta Benešová,
Polona Hercog, Patty Schnyder and Shahar Pe'er.
Lisicki qualified for the
Tournament of Champions. She lost her first round-robin match to
Aravane Rezaï, but won her second round-robin match against
Melinda Czink
Melinda Czink (born 22 October 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. On 21 September 2009, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 37.
Czink reached two WTA Tour singles finals. In 2005, she lost to Ana Iv ...
.
2010: Injuries and struggles
Lisicki started the season by playing at the
Hopman Cup for Germany. She won her singles ties against
Elena Dementieva
Elena Viacheslavovna Dementieva (, ; born 15 October 1981) is a Russian former professional tennis player. She won the singles gold medal at the Tennis at the 2008 Summer Olympics, 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won the silver meda ...
and
Laura Robson
Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached th ...
but lost to
Yaroslava Shvedova
Yaroslava Vyacheslavovna Shvedova (; born 12 September 1987) is a Kazakhstani former professional tennis player. Before 2008, she represented her country of birth, Russia.
She won one singles title and 13 doubles titles on the WTA Tour, plus o ...
. Partnering with
Philipp Kohlschreiber
Philipp Eberhard Hermann Kohlschreiber (; born 16 October 1983) is a German former professional tennis player. The right-hander won eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ATP World Tour and made the quarterfinals at the 2012 Wimbledon Ch ...
, they lost all their doubles matches, so Germany did not proceed to the finals.

As the 21st seed, Lisicki was defeated at the
Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
in the second round by
Alberta Brianti, in three sets. She then played the
Pattaya Open in Bangkok where she was the second seed and lost her second-round match to home player
Tamarine Tanasugarn
Tamarine Tanasugarn ( th, แทมมารีน ธนสุกาญจน์, , ; born 24 May 1977) is a Thai former tennis player. Born in Los Angeles, she turned professional in 1994, and has been in the top 20 in both singles and doubl ...
.
At
Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
, she lost her second-round match against
Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She ...
.
Her next two tournaments were at
Indian Wells and
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
. In both tournaments, Lisicki retired in the second round because of an ankle injury. The injury sidelined her for five months, and she withdrew from tournaments at
Ponte Vedra and
Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
. She also missed Roland Garros and Wimbledon. Lisicki had to learn how to walk again and faced suggestions that she should retire rather than risk further injury. She later said: "I always believed. Always. No matter what happened. I can still remember when the doctor told me that I have to be on crutches the next six weeks. That period made me such a much stronger person and player. I know anything is possible after learning how to walk again. I love the sport so much and I miss it when I cannot be out there on the court. It just gives me the belief to overcome anything."
Coming into the
US Open ranked world No. 96, Lisicki advanced to the second round before losing to seventh seed and eventual finalist
Vera Zvonareva
Vera Igorevna Zvonareva ( rus, Вера Игоревна Звонарёва, p=ˈvʲɛrə ˈiɡərʲɪvnə zvənɐˈrʲɵvə, a=Vera zvonareva.ogg; born 7 September 1984) is a Russian professional tennis player. She was introduced to tennis at ...
.
After the US Open, she failed to qualify for the Luxembourg Open causing her ranking to fall to No. 179 in the WTA rankings.
[
]
2011: Return to form
Lisicki started the season at the Auckland Open where she lost to Yanina Wickmayer in three sets in the second round. At Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/ Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a me ...
, Lisicki played the qualifying tournament and lost in the second round to Vesna Manasieva. After losing at the Indian Wells Open to Sorana Cîrstea in the qualifying rounds in March, Lisicki fell down the rankings to No. 218.[ She lifted her form and reached the third round at the Miami Open, where she was defeated by Maria Sharapova.
]
At the Family Circle Cup, Lisicki reached the third round, but lost to Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...
in two sets. At the Porsche Grand Prix, she lost in the quarterfinals against her compatriot Julia Görges, eventual champion of the tournament. In doubles, Lisicki partnered with former world No. 1 doubles player Samantha Stosur to win her first ever career doubles title. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
, Lisicki advanced to the second round against the number three seed, Vera Zvonareva. Lisicki had a match point at 5–2 of the third set, but she lost the point and eventually the match. Afterwards, she lay on the court, sobbing, and was taken off on a stretcher due to injury.
At the Birmingham Classic, Lisicki reached the final where she defeated Daniela Hantuchová to win her second WTA Tour title. At Wimbledon, she received a wildcard to enter the tournament, advancing to the semifinals of a major for the first time, and beating third seed and recent French Open champion Li Na in the second round. She was eliminated by Maria Sharapova in straight sets after leading the first set 3–0. This was the first time in 12 years that a German woman (since Steffi Graf reached the Wimbledon finals in 1999) had reached the semifinal stage of a Grand Slam. Lisicki was the second wild-card entry to reach the women's semifinals in Wimbledon history. In doubles, Lisicki partnered with Stosur and lost in the final.
At the Stanford Classic
The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
, Lisicki beat fourth seed and doubles partner Samantha Stosur and fifth seed Agnieszka Radwańska, but fell to Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
in the semifinals. At the Cincinnati Open, Lisicki lost to Shahar Pe'er in the first round. She then traveled to Dallas to compete in the inaugural Texas Open as the fifth seed. After advancing to the semifinals with an easy win over qualifier Kateryna Bondarenko, she crushed eighth seed Irina-Camelia Begu to advance to the final. Lisicki won her third title, defeating qualifier Aravane Rezaï, having dropped no more than three games each match of the way to her victory. She moved to a new career-high rank of world No. 18, on 29 August. Seeded 22nd at the US Open, she easily advanced to the second round with a straight-sets win over Alona Bondarenko. She was scheduled to play Venus Williams in the second round, but Williams withdrew before it started due to her recent diagnosis of Sjögren's syndrome. Lisicki dispatched Irina Falconi to advance to the fourth round for the first time, before ultimately being defeated by second seed Vera Zvonareva. At the China Open Lisicki defeated Zheng Saisai in straight sets but withdrew from her second round match against Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour.
Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset spe ...
.
Lisicki was named the WTA Comeback Player of the Year This article lists the WTA Awards given by the Women's Tennis Association to players and coaches for achievements during a season or their careers.
Player of the Year
Doubles Team of the Year
Most Improved Player
Newcomer of the Ye ...
in November.
2012: Continued success and injuries
Lisicki's first tournament in 2012 was the Auckland Open where she was the No. 1 seed. In the first round, she defeated Virginie Razzano. In the second round, she defeated Mona Barthel
Mona Barthel (born 11 July 1990) is a German tennis player.
Barthel has won four singles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour, one doubles title on the WTA Challenger Tour as well as five singles titles and one doubles title on the ITF Cir ...
. In the quarterfinal, she faced Angelique Kerber
Angelique Kerber (; born 18 January 1988) is a German professional tennis player. She has been ranked as high as world No. 1, for a total of 34 weeks, and won three major titles at the 2016 Australian Open, the 2016 US Open, and the 2018 Wim ...
, the 2011 US Open semifinalist, and was losing 4–6, before retiring, due to a back injury, in the second set at a score of 3–4. In doubles, she entered with Chinese player Peng Shuai
Peng Shuai (; born 8 January 1986) is a Chinese retired professional tennis player. In February 2014, she was ranked world No. 1 doubles player by the WTA, becoming the first Chinese tennis player to achieve that ranking (in either single ...
and they won their first round match against Sara Errani
Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...
and Roberta Vinci
Roberta Vinci (; born 18 February 1983) is an Italian professional padel and former tennis player. In doubles tennis, she won five major tournaments and reached the world No. 1 position. She also reached a career-high ranking of world No. 7 ...
. Both the Italians would go on to the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
in four weeks time. In the second round, they pulled out due to the injury picked up by Lisicki in the quarterfinal of the singles tournament against Angelique Kerber.
Lisicki next entered the Sydney International where she was unseeded. Before the first round of the tournament began, she pulled out with her recent back injury and gave her place to lucky loser Alexandra Dulgheru.
Lisicki next competed in the Australian Open where she was the 14th seed. In the first round, she faced Stefanie Vögele and beat her in three sets. In the second round, she defeated Shahar Pe'er. In the third round, she beat 18th seed Svetlana Kuznetsova. She was defeated by Maria Sharapova. Lisicki took the first set, winning six consecutive games after being down 0–3, but was unable to match Sharapova in the following two sets.
At the 2012 Fed Cup
The 2012 Fed Cup (also known as the 2012 Fed Cup by BNP Paribas for sponsorship purposes) was the 50th edition of the most important tournament between national teams in women's tennis. The draw took place on 17 July 2011 in Kobe, Japan.
The fin ...
, Lisicki played for Germany alongside Julia Görges, Anna-Lena Grönefeld and Angelique Kerber. She started off the meeting between Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
and the Czech Republic
The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...
by facing Iveta Benešová, a match in which she lost. In her second match, she faced Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitová and also lost. Germany lost the meeting by a score of 1–4.
Lisicki's next tournament was supposed to be the Open GdF Suez
Open GDF Suez, formerly Open Gaz de France, was a Premier level tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held in Paris, France. Held from 1993 till 2014, the tournament was played indoors, originally on carpet until 2000, then on hardcourts. The 2014 Op ...
where she was to be the fifth seed. She pulled out before the tournament began with a viral illness.
Lisicki then competed at the Qatar Open where she was the ninth seed. In the first round she met compatriot Angelique Kerber and lost in three sets to continue a losing streak dating back to the fourth round of the Australian Open. In doubles, she was the fourth seed along with Russian Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲɛnkə ; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open a ...
. They received a bye into the second round where they met Andreja Klepač and Alicja Rosolska
Alicja Rosolska (; born 1 December 1985) is a professional tennis player from Poland.
On 9 June 2003, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 636. On 10 June 2019, she peaked at No. 23 in the doubles rankings.
Rosolska has won nine ...
, beating them in a third set tie-break. In the third round they met fifth seeds Nuria Llagostera Vives and Anastasia Rodionova. They lost the first set 4–6, and in the second set, Llagostera Vives and Rodionova took an early 3–1 lead, but Lisicki and Kirilenko were able to even the score by winning the following two games. The two teams swapped a break of serve to bring the score to 4–4. The teams held serve and brought the set to a tiebreak. Lisicki and Kirilenko won 7–3 to level the score at one set each. They lost the third set, and with it, ultimately, the match.
Lisicki's next tournament was at Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
, where she was supposed to face fifth seed Agnieszka Radwańska in the first round. However, after second seed Petra Kvitová withdrew, she became the ninth seed and received Kvitová's bye into the second round. There she met Iveta Benešová, defeating her in two sets. In the quarterfinals, she was knocked out by Radwańska.
At Indian Wells as the 11th seed, she received a bye into the second round where she faced Lourdes Domínguez Lino, losing in two sets. In doubles with compatriot Julia Görges, she beat Raquel Kops-Jones and Abigail Spears. The two Germans next faced French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
champions Lucie Hradecká
Lucie Hradecká (; born 21 May 1985) is a Czech former professional tennis player. A three-time Grand Slam doubles champion and 26-time WTA Tour doubles titlist, she reached her career-high doubles ranking of world No. 4 in October 2012. She was ...
and Andrea Hlaváčková, losing in straight sets.
Lisicki next went to the Miami Open, where she was the 12th seed. She got a bye to the second round where she faced Sofia Arvidsson
Lena Sofia Alexandra Arvidsson (born 16 February 1984) is a Swedish professional padel player and a former tennis player. In her tennis career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 20 singles and 13 doubl ...
. Victorious, she then faced Peng Shuai in the third round. She won this match too and then faced Li Na in the fourth round. Li defeated Lisicki in three sets.
At the Family Circle Cup, Lisicki was the sixth seed. She received a bye into the second round. There she faced lucky loser
A lucky loser is a sports competitor (player or team) who loses a match in a knockout tournament or loses in qualifying, but who then enters the main draw, usually when another competitor withdraws during the tournament because of illness, injur ...
Andrea Hlaváčková, winning in three. She faced qualifier Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round and won in straight sets. In the quarterfinals, she faced Serena Williams. Behind 1–4 to her opponent, Lisicki fell and injured her left ankle. She retired from the match in tears, sending Serena into the semis. In doubles, she paired with Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
women's doubles champion Vera Zvonareva. They lost to top seeds Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond.
As a result of the fall in her quarterfinal match, Lisicki was forced to the sideline at the Fed Cup World Group Play-off tie against Australia. She was also forced to pull out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix, from which she was defending a quarterfinal spot in singles and the doubles title which she won with Sam Stosur. Lisicki also missed the Madrid Open, a Premier Mandatory tournament.
After nearly a month off the tour, Lisicki returned as the 12th seed at the Italian Open Italian Open may refer to:
*Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year.
*Italian Open (golf)
The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
. She faced Marina Erakovic in the first round, where she lost. Traveling next to her home country for the Internationaux de Strasbourg
The Internationaux de Strasbourg (formally known as the Strasbourg Grand Prix) is a professional women's tennis tournament held in Strasbourg, France. It is an International-level outdoor event of the WTA Tour played on clay courts. The tourname ...
, where she was the top seed, Lisicki again experienced a first round upset, losing to Pauline Parmentier.
Lisicki then traveled to Paris to play the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
, where she was the 12th seed. On the red clay of Roland Garros, Lisicki lost to Bethanie Mattek-Sands
Bethanie Mattek-Sands ( Bethanie Lynn Mattek; born March 23, 1985) is an American professional tennis player. She has won nine Grand Slam titles (five in women's doubles and four in mixed doubles), and an Olympic gold medal, and is a former ...
.
Lisicki started her summer grass-court season by defending her title at Eastbourne
Eastbourne () is a town and seaside resort in East Sussex, on the south coast of England, east of Brighton and south of London. Eastbourne is immediately east of Beachy Head, the highest chalk sea cliff in Great Britain and part of the l ...
. As the second seed, she received a bye into the second round, where she lost to Urszula Radwańska
Urszula Radwańska (; born 7 December 1990) is a Polish professional tennis player.
Radwańska has won one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as seven singles and ten doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 October 2012, she reached ...
. This set Lisicki up with a five-match losing streak going into the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...
. In the first round, she beat unseeded Petra Martić, breaking her losing streak and putting her into the second round, where she faced qualifier Bojana Jovanovski Bojana may refer to
Places
* Bojana (river), a river in Albania and Montenegro
* Ada Bojana / Bojana Island
Name
* Bojana (given name), a Slavic given name
* People
** Bojana Atanasovska
** Bojana Bobusic
** Bojana Jovanovski
** Bojana Novakovi ...
. Lisicki won the match in three sets to set up a third round tie with Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in t ...
, where she again faced a tight match, pulling through in the third set. In the fourth round, she beat top seed Sharapova, to whom she had lost in the semifinals the previous year. This marked the third year that Lisicki had beaten the reigning French Open champion in Wimbledon, having also beaten Li Na in 2011 and Svetlana Kuznetsova in 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
. In the subsequent quarterfinals, Lisicki once again met Angelique Kerber. Having lost the previous four meetings, Lisicki proceeded to lose the first set 3–6. Lisicki rallied in the second set to take it in a tiebreak; in this second set Lisicki saved two match points. Lisicki proved ultimately unable to take the match. At one point, she was serving for the match at 5–3, but Kerber went on the take the set and the match, dropping Lisicki back down to a world ranking of 18.
Lisicki entered the Mercury Insurance Open as the fifth seed but pulled out with an abdominal injury. She went straight back to London to prepare for the 2012 Summer Olympics. She entered singles where she was seeded 15, and in mixed doubles with Christopher Kas
Christopher Kas (born 13 June 1980) is a retired German tennis player.
Kas has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 224, which he achieved in November 2002. He also has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 17, achieved in Februa ...
where they were unseeded. In the singles, she beat Ons Jabeur and Yaroslava Shvedova in the first and second round respectively. She lost to Maria Sharapova in the third round, after winning the first set and leading 4–2 in the second. In doubles, Lisicki and Kerber beat British pair Laura Robson
Laura Robson (born 21 January 1994) is a British former professional tennis player. She debuted on the ITF Junior Circuit in 2007, and a year later won the Junior Wimbledon championships at the age of 14. As a junior, she also twice reached th ...
and Heather Watson
Heather Miriam Watson (born 19 May 1992) is a British professional tennis player. A former British No. 1, Watson has won nine titles over her career, including the mixed-doubles title at the 2016 Wimbledon Championships partnering Henri ...
in the first round, after losing the first set whilst taking only eleven points and going 4–2 down in the second set. In the second round, they lost to Venus and Serena Williams. In mixed doubles, Lisicki and Kas beat second seeds Bob Bryan
Robert Charles Bryan (born April 29, 1978) is an American former doubles world No. 1 tennis player. He has won twenty-three Grand Slam titles: 16 in men's doubles and 7 in mixed doubles. He turned professional in 1998. With his twin ...
and Liezel Huber in the first round, and Daniele Bracciali and Roberta Vinci in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they lost to Andy Murray
Sir Andrew Barron Murray (born 15 May 1987) is a British professional tennis player from Scotland. He was ranked world No. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) for 41 weeks, and finished as the year-end No. 1 in 2016. Murray ...
and Laura Robson. In the bronze medal match, they lost to third seeds Mike Bryan and Lisa Raymond.
Lisicki moved on to the Rogers Cup in Montreal. She was 15th seed in singles falling in her opening match to Carla Suárez Navarro. In doubles, she made it to the quarterfinals, partnering with Peng Shuai. They beat sixth seeds Iveta Benešová and Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová, and Natalie Grandin
Natalie Grandin (born 27 February 1981) is a retired tennis player from South Africa.
She achieved a career-high singles ranking of 144 as of 12 September 2005. On 14 May 2012, she peaked at No. 22 in the doubles rankings. In her career, she ...
and Vladimíra Uhlířová
Vladimíra Uhlířová (born 4 May 1978) is a retired Czech tennis player.
In her career, she won five doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as 17 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In October 2003, she reached her best singles ranki ...
in the first and second rounds respectively. They were forced to pull out of the competition against top seeds Raymond and Huber as a result of Lisicki suffering an abdominal injury.
Lisicki entered the US Open as the 16th seed, but she was upset in the first round by Sorana Cîrstea. In doubles, Lisicki again partnered with Peng Shuai. They beat Laura Robson and Shahar Pe'er in the first round, 12th seeds Anastasia Rodionova and Galina Voskoboeva in the second and sixth seeds Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon C ...
and Ekaterina Makarova
Ekaterina Valeryevna Makarova ( rus, Екатери́на Вале́рьевна Мака́рова; ; born 7 June 1988) is a Russian former professional tennis player who was ranked world No. 1 in doubles, and world No. 8 in singles.
She ...
in the third. They lost to eventual finalists Hlaváčková and Hradecká in the quarterfinals.
Lisicki's next tournament was in Japan at the Pan Pacific Open. In singles, she started with a first-round loss against qualifier Heather Watson. In doubles, she partnered with world No. 3, Lisa Raymond. They faced Monica Niculescu and Alicja Rosolska, both of whom had recently lost in WTA doubles finals. Lisicki and Raymond won the match and defeated Darija Jurak and Katalin Marosi
Katalin Marosi (born 12 November 1979) is a Hungarian former professional tennis player.
In her career, Marosi won 15 singles and 31 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 May 2000, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. ...
in the quarterfinals.
Lisicki next participated at the China Open, but she was defeated in the second round by the eventual champion Victoria Azarenka
Victória Fyódarauna Azárenka ( be, Вікторыя Фёдараўна Азаранка; Russian: Виктория Фёдоровна Азаренко; born 31 July 1989) is a Belarusian professional tennis player. Azarenka is a former ...
. She next moved to Linz where she lost in the first round to Patricia Mayr-Achleitner. Lisicki finished her season losing in the first round of the Luxembourg Open to Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
2013: First Grand Slam singles final
Lisicki started 2013 with the Brisbane International. She beat Lucie Šafářová in the first round. She lost in the second round to world No. 1, Victoria Azarenka. She pulled out of the qualifying draw at Sydney with a virus.
Lisicki then competed at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
. In the first round she faced Caroline Wozniacki and was defeated. She also competed in the mixed doubles with Frederik Nielsen. They were knocked out in the first round by the home favorites and eventual champions, Jarmila Gajdošová
Jarmila Wolfe (née Gajdošová, formerly Groth; born 26 April 1987) is a Slovak-Australian former tennis player.
In her career, she won two singles titles and one doubles title on the WTA Tour, as well as 14 singles and ten doubles titles on ...
and Matthew Ebden
Matthew Ebden (born 26 November 1987) is an Australian professional tennis player.
He is a two-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2022 Wimbledon Championships in men's doubles alongside Max Purcell, and the 2013 Australian Open in mixed ...
.
Lisicki then moved onto the Pattaya Open. In the first round she beat fellow German Tatjana Malek. She downed Alexandra Panova in the second round and came back from a set down in the quarterfinals to beat Marina Erakovic. In her first semifinal since 2011, she beat Nina Bratchikova. In the final, she lost to Maria Kirilenko
Maria Yuryevna Kirilenko ( rus, Мари́я Ю́рьевна Кириле́нко, p=mɐˈrʲijə kʲɪrʲɪˈlʲɛnkə ; born 25 January 1987) is a Russian former professional tennis player. A junior Grand Slam champion at the 2002 US Open a ...
in three sets.
Her next tournament was in Memphis. As the third seed, she beat qualifier Madison Keys in the first round and Melinda Czink
Melinda Czink (born 22 October 1982) is a former professional tennis player from Hungary. On 21 September 2009, she reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 37.
Czink reached two WTA Tour singles finals. In 2005, she lost to Ana Iv ...
in the second. In the quarterfinal, she beat eighth seed Kristina Mladenovic and beat seventh seed Magdaléna Rybáriková in the semifinal. In Lisicki's second final of the year, she faced Marina Erakovic from New Zealand. Erakovic ran away with the first set and Lisicki retired from the final with illness (Erakovic's first WTA title).
Lisicki missed the Indian Wells Open with the same illness. She returned in time to play at the Miami Open but lost in the first round to Simona Halep.
Lisicki started her clay-court season on the green clay at the Charleston Open. Lisicki claimed the title here in 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
. In the first round, she recorded her first ever double bagel (not losing any games) in beating Anna Tatishvili. In the second round, she lost from a set up against Mallory Burdette
Mallory Burdette (born January 28, 1991 in Macon, Georgia) is the retired American collegiate and professional tennis player.
Personal life
Burdette was born to Alan and Judy Burdette in Macon, Georgia. She has two sisters, Erin and Lindsa ...
.
Her next tournament was on the red clay in Katowice
Katowice ( , , ; szl, Katowicy; german: Kattowitz, yi, קאַטעוויץ, Kattevitz) is the capital city of the Silesian Voivodeship in southern Poland and the central city of the Upper Silesian metropolitan area. It is the 11th most populo ...
, Poland. As the seventh seed, she lost in the first round to Alexandra Cadanțu of Romania. She then travelled to Stuttgart for Germany's Fed Cup World Group Play-off tie against Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hung ...
. Angelique Kerber and Mona Barthel were picked for singles against Ana Ivanovic and Bojana Jovanovski. After the four singles matches, the score was tied at two all. Lisicki was picked to play the doubles rubber with Anna-Lena Grönefeld against Vesna Dolonc and Aleksandra Krunić. The German pairing easily won to secure Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
its place in the 2014 Fed Cup World Group. Lisicki stayed in Stuttgart to compete at the Porsche Grand Prix. In singles, she beat qualifier Italian Nastassja Burnett. In the second round, she beat Jelena Janković. She lost in the quarterfinals to qualifier Mattek-Sands. In doubles, she and compatriot Mona Barthel received a wildcard to play in the main draw. They were scheduled to play world number ones Vinci and Errani but they pulled out before the tournament began. Instead, they were drawn against alternates Jill Craybas
Jill N. Craybas (born July 4, 1974) is an American former professional tennis player.
From the 2000 US Open to the 2011 US Open, Craybas competed in 45 consecutive Grand Slam main draws; her best result coming in the 2005 Wimbledon Championships ...
and Megan Moulton-Levy. Lisicki and Barthel easily won, with the loss of just two games. They then faced Jelena Janković and Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, a match in which they won in three sets. In the semifinals, they defeated Darija Jurak and Katalin Marosi
Katalin Marosi (born 12 November 1979) is a Hungarian former professional tennis player.
In her career, Marosi won 15 singles and 31 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 8 May 2000, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. ...
, in straight sets. In the final, Lisicki got revenge for her singles loss by beating Mattek-Sands and her partner Sania Mirza
Sania Mirza (; born 15 November 1986) is an Indian professional tennis player. A former doubles world No. 1, she has won six major titles – three in women's doubles and three in mixed doubles. From 2003 until her retirement from singles in ...
. This was Lisicki's second WTA doubles title. She and Barthel became the first all-German pairing to lift the trophy in Stuttgart.
Lisicki continued her clay season in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
. In the first round, she beat Sofia Arvidsson of Sweden. In the second round, she defeated 15th seed Dominika Cibulková
Dominika Cibulková (; born 6 May 1989) is a Slovak former professional tennis player. She is the 2016 WTA Finals champion, becoming the fourth player (after Serena Williams in 2001, Maria Sharapova in 2004 and Petra Kvitová in 2011) to win the ...
. In the third round, she played world No. 2, Maria Sharapova. Sharapova ultimately won in straight sets, with Lisicki putting up a fight in the second set. From Madrid, Lisicki went to Rome to play at the Italian Open Italian Open may refer to:
*Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year.
*Italian Open (golf)
The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
. In the first round, she defeated American qualifier Mallory Burdette, but lost to eighth seed Petra Kvitová in the second round.
Lisicki then went to Paris for the second Grand Slam of the year. In singles, she was the 32nd seed. She defeated Sofia Arvidsson in the first round and pulled off a straight sets win against Spaniard María Teresa Torró Flor in the second round, reaching the third round of the French Open for the first time in her career. There she was defeated by fifth seed and defending finalist Sara Errani. In doubles, Lisicki partnered with Janette Husárová. They came from a set down to beat Bojana Jovanovski and Eva Hrdinová
Eva Hrdinová (born 15 June 1984) is a Czech former tennis player.
In her career, Hrdinová won three singles and 19 doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 14 April 2008, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 168. On 18 August 2008, ...
in the first round. In the second round, they upset fifteenth seeds Chan Hao-ching of Taipei and Darija Jurak of Croatia. They faced defending champions Errani and Vinci in the third round, losing in straight sets.
Lisicki started her grass court season by playing at the Birmingham Classic. As the fifth seed, she received a bye into the second round where she defeated Kristýna Plíšková. In the third round, she beat Mirjana Lučić-Baroni. She lost to Alison Riske
Alison Riske-Amritraj (née Riske; born July 3, 1990) is an American professional tennis player. She reached her career-high singles ranking of world No. 18 in November 2019 and won her first WTA Tour title in October 2014 at the Tianjin Open.
...
in the quarterfinals. In the final set, Lisicki was 4–5 down and serving at 15–0 when Riske shouted "come on!" during a rally before Lisicki had returned the ball. Lisicki was unhappy and wanted the umpire to make a hindrance call, which would have given her the point and put her 30–0 up. The umpire did not agree with her and neither did the tournament referee. Riske took the point and broke Lisicki to win the match.
At the Wimbledon Championships
The Wimbledon Championships, commonly known simply as Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is widely regarded as the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in Wimbledon, London, since 1877 and is pl ...
, Lisicki, seeded 23rd, beat Francesca Schiavone
Francesca Schiavone (; born 23 June 1980) is an Italian former professional tennis player. She turned professional in 1998 and won the 2010 French Open singles title, becoming the first Italian woman to win a Grand Slam event in singles. She w ...
in the first round, Elena Vesnina
Elena Sergeyevna Vesnina (born 1 August 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player and a former world No. 1 in doubles.
She is a four-time Grand Slam champion, having won the 2013 French Open, 2014 US Open, and 2017 Wimbledon C ...
and 14th seed Samantha Stosur in the second and third round. In the fourth round, she faced first seed and reigning Wimbledon, US Open, and French Open champion Serena Williams. Lisicki won in three sets, marking the fourth time in her last four participations that she knocked out the reigning French Open champion at Wimbledon. Williams had been on a 34-match winning streak coming into the match. Lisicki defeated Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour.
Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset spe ...
of Estonia, reaching the Wimbledon semifinals for the second time in her career. She beat Agnieszka Radwańska in a three set semifinal in two hours and 18 minutes to advance to her first Grand Slam final, thereby becoming the first German woman to reach a major final since Steffi Graf at Wimbledon in 1999, and the first German player of either gender to reach a Grand Slam singles final since Rainer Schüttler at the 2003 Australian Open. However, she lost to Marion Bartoli, in straight sets.
Her next tournament was the Western & Southern Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
, however she lost in her opening match in a tight three-setter against Jelena Janković. She then played at New Haven
New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...
, beating Kristina Mladenovic in the first round before losing to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the second.
She then played the US Open as the 16th seed, where she defeated qualifier Vera Dushevina
Vera Yevgenyevna Dushevina ( rus, Вера Евгеньевна Душевина; born 6 October 1986) is a Russian former professional tennis player.
She won one singles title and two doubles titles on the WTA Tour. As a junior, she won the ...
in the first round. She then won her second match against Paula Ormaechea before losing to Ekaterina Makarova in round three.
Lisicki missed most of the Asian swing, but competed at the China Open as the 13th seed. She advanced to the third round beating Chanelle Scheepers and Venus Williams, before losing to home favourite Li Na. She then played the Osaka Open, again beating Scheepers in the first round, but was forced to withdraw from the tournament with a left hip injury before her second-round match.
Lisicki ended her 2013 season on a high by reaching the semi-finals of the Luxembourg Open. She beat Donna Vekić, Tereza Smitková
Tereza Smitková (born 10 October 1994) is a Czech tennis player.
Smitková has won one singles WTA 125 title as well as eight singles and seven doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 6 April 2015, she reached her best singles ranking of world ...
and Karin Knapp
Karin Knapp (born 28 June 1987) is a retired Italian tennis player.
In her career, Knapp won two singles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as six singles titles and six doubles titles on the ITF Circuit. On 24 August 2015, she reached her best s ...
in her opening three matches. She won the last set to love (6–0) in all three of these matches. In the semifinals, she succumbed to top seed and eventual champion Caroline Wozniacki in straight sets. She finished her year ranked as world No. 15.
2014: Illness and injuries, fastest-serve record and 4th WTA title
It was confirmed in October 2013 that Lisicki would begin her 2014 season alongside Serena Williams and Victoria Azarenka at the Brisbane International. She advanced to the second round with a win over Magdaléna Rybáriková, but then withdrew from the tournament due to illness.
At the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, it was announced that Lisicki would bring in Martina Hingis
Martina Hingis (, sk, Martina Hingisová; 30 September 1980) is a Swiss former professional tennis player. Hingis is the first Swiss player, male or female, to win a major title and attain a world No. 1 ranking. She spent a total of 209 weeks ...
as a coach. Seeded 15th, she began with a confident straight-sets victory over Mirjana Lučić-Baroni, but was upset in the second round by Monica Niculescu. At the Pattaya Open, Lisicki struggled to overcome Donna Vekić in the first round in three sets. After the match, she admitted that it had been almost impossible for her to serve effectively due to a right shoulder injury. She later withdrew from the tournament.
Lisicki then endured a poor run across the North American swing, losing in her first match in Indian Wells to Aleksandra Wozniak. In Indian Wells, Lisicki also competed in the doubles draw playing alongside coach Martina Hingis. After getting a wildcard into the main draw, they played seventh seeds Ashleigh Barty and Casey Dellacqua
Casey Dellacqua ( ; born 11 February 1985) is a retired Australian professional tennis player and current commentator. Her best singles results on the WTA Tour have been semifinal appearances at the 2012 Texas Tennis Open and 2014 Birmingham ...
. At the Miami Open, she beat Nadia Petrova in her opening match. However, she was forced to pull out before her third-round match against Kirsten Flipkens citing a bad flu. Despite pulling out of the singles draw, Lisicki was able to take a few days off to recover before she and Hingis started their campaign for the title. In the first round, they claimed their first win together by beating sixth seeds Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Šafářová. In the second round, Lisicki and Hingis convincingly defeated wildcards Sorana Cîrstea and Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets. In their quarterfinal match, the pair pulled off an impressive comeback win beating Anabel Medina Garrigues
Ana Isabel Medina Garrigues (, ; born 31 July 1982) is a Spanish tennis coach and former professional player.
As a player she reached a career-high ranking of world No. 16 in 2020, and won 11 singles and 28 doubles titles, including the 2008 ...
and Yaroslava Shvedova despite losing the first set and facing match points against them in the second. In the semifinals, they played fifth seeds and Indian Wells finalists Cara Black and Sania Mirza and beat them in straight sets. In their first final in only their second tournament together, Lisicki and Hingis played second seeds Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova. Despite being the heavy favourites for the title, Vesnina and Makrarova would go on to lose the match in three sets. The win was Lisicki's third doubles title and her first off the indoor clay of Stuttgart and Hingis' 38th doubles title and first since 2007.
Lisicki looked to carry momentum from the Miami title by going to Charleston and playing at the Family Circle Cup. She entered the tournament as the fourth seed and received a bye in the first round of play. In the second round, she played Vania King and beat her in three sets. In the third round, she played compatriot Andrea Petkovic
Andrea Petkovic (, ; born 9 September 1987) is a German former professional tennis player. Born in Tuzla, SFR Yugoslavia, to Serbian father Zoran and Bosniak mother Amira, she moved to Germany at six months old and turned professional in 2006 ...
for the first time in her career. Lisicki lost to the eventual champion Petkovic, managing to score only one game in the whole match. Lisicki did not participate in Germany's Fed Cup semifinal victory over Australia, moving from the outdoor green clay of Charleston to the indoor red clay of Stuttgart. She lost in the opening round to ninth seed Ana Ivanovic.
Lisicki then competed at the Madrid Open where she was the 15th seed. She fell in the third round to Simona Halep in three sets. At Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, she fell in her opening match to Samantha Stosur in straight sets. Lisicki reached the second round at Roland Garros where she retired against compatriot Mona Barthel after injuring her wrist.
In June, Lisicki split with coach Hingis, citing "different concepts" as the reason. As the 19th seed at Wimbledon, she could not repeat her feat from the previous year, only managing to reach the quarterfinals where she lost to Simona Halep. Along the way, she defeated Julia Glushko, Karolína Plíšková, Ivanovic and Shvedova, fighting through a shoulder injury against the Kazakh.
In July, Lisicki slipped down to 30 in the world rankings. In her first-round match at the Stanford Classic
The Silicon Valley Classic, sponsored by Mubadala Investment Company, is a week-long tennis tournament on the WTA Tour held on the campus of San Jose State University in San Jose, California, United States. Started in 1971, the tournament is the ol ...
against Ivanovic, Lisicki set a world record serve for a female tennis player, clocked at . However, Lisicki lost the match in straight sets. At the Rogers Cup in Montreal the following week, Lisicki defeated former world No. 5, Sara Errani, in the first round in straight sets. After coming from a set down to defeat Madison Keys in the next round, she lost to Agnieszka Radwańska in three sets. The following week in Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state lin ...
was almost a repeat. In the second round, Lisicki defeated Errani once more in a match that lasted three hours before being beaten by Radwańska, only managing to win two games. Lisicki, the 26th seed, reached the third round at the US Open where she lost to Maria Sharapova.
In September, Lisicki participated in Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
as the top seed after receiving a wildcard. She defeated Monica Niculescu and Grace Min to reach the quarterfinals. Then, she defeated Zheng Saisai and Francesca Schiavone to reach her first final of 2014. She won her fourth WTA title by defeating Karolína Plíšková, her first singles title in more than three years. Lisicki received a wildcard at the Pan Pacific Open but lost to Casey Dellacqua in the first round. At the Wuhan Open, she upset Lucie Šafářová in the first round before falling to Elina Svitolina in the second, despite leading 5–0 in the first set. At the China Open, she reached the third round for the second straight year by defeating Xu Shilin and Eugenie Bouchard
Eugenie "Genie" Bouchard (; french: Eugénie Bouchard, ; born February 25, 1994) is a Canadian tennis player. At the 2014 Wimbledon Championships, she became the first Canadian-born player representing Canada to reach the final of a Grand Slam ...
. She then lost to Ivanovic in straight sets. Lisicki then played in Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
as the fifth seed. She accepted a wild card into the event. She lost to Karin Knapp in three sets in the first round. The following week, Lisicki was upset by Denisa Allertová in the second round at the Luxembourg Open having overcome Daniela Hantuchová in her opening match. Lisicki's last match of 2014 was at the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
where Germany faced Czech Republic. She was selected to play the doubles tie alongside Anna-Lena Grönefeld. They defeated the pair of Hlaváčková and Hradecká. Lisicki ended the year at No. 27.
2015: First Premier Mandatory semifinal and most aces record
Lisicki had a rough start to the year, losing in the first rounds at the Brisbane International (champion in doubles with Hingis), the Sydney International and the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, losing to Shvedova, Suárez Navarro, and Mladenovic respectively. She finally picked up her first win of the year in Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
beating Monica Niculescu before bowing out to Ana Ivanovic. Lisicki would then suffer more first round losses in Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...
to Barbora Záhlavová-Strýcová and in Kuala Lumpur
, anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera''
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia
, pushpin_map_caption =
, coordinates =
, sub ...
to eventual finalist Alexandra Dulgheru.
Lisicki rediscovered her form during the North American swing. At Indian Wells, she beat Roberta Vinci to record her first ever win at the tournament. She continued winning by beating Sara Errani and Caroline Garcia to advance to the quarterfinals. In the quarterfinals, she beat the defending champion Flavia Pennetta in a three set thriller, saving three match points to advance to the semifinals for the first time at a Premier Mandatory event. She lost to Jelena Janković in the semifinals in three sets despite leading by a set and a break. Lisicki carried her good form over to Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
where she beat fellow countrywoman Julia Görges, Ana Ivanovic, and Sara Errani to advance to her second Premier Mandatory quarterfinal in a row. She lost to eventual champion Serena Williams in the quarterfinals in three sets.
Lisicki then played for Germany in the semifinals against Russia at the Fed Cup
The Billie Jean King Cup (or the BJK Cup) is the premier international team competition in women's tennis, launched as the Federation Cup in 1963 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the International Tennis Federation (ITF). The name was chan ...
where she lost to Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets despite having a match point in the second set. She also played in the doubles with Andrea Petkovic but the pair lost to Pavlyuchenkova and Elena Vesnina to give Russia the win and a place in the final.
Lisicki began her clay season in Stuttgart and was handed her first career double bagel loss to Zarina Diyas in the first round. This followed with another first round exit at the Madrid Open to CoCo Vandeweghe. Lisicki then played at the Internazionali BNL d'Italia and picked up her first clay win by beating Sloane Stephens
Sloane Stephens (born March 20, 1993) is an American professional tennis player. She achieved a career-best ranking of world No. 3 after Wimbledon in 2018. Stephens was the 2017 US Open champion, and has won seven WTA Tour singles titles in t ...
before losing to Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets. She then played at the Nuremberg Cup
The Nuremberg Cup was a women's professional tennis tournament held in Nuremberg, Germany. Held from 2013 until 2019, this 250-level tournament was played on outdoor clay courts.
Tournament history
The Nuremberg Open was a defunct men's tenni ...
and lost in the second round to Lara Arruabarrena in three sets despite having a match point in the third set. Lisicki then played at the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
as the 20th seed. She beat Monica Puig in the first round in straight sets. In the second round, after winning the first set, her opponent Daria Gavrilova retired, allowing Lisicki to advance to the third round, where she was defeated by eventual finalist, Lucie Šafářová in straight sets.
Lisicki started her grass-court season at Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
. In her second-round win over Belinda Bencic, Lisicki broke the record for the most aces in a singles match, hitting a total of 27 aces. She then beat 2009 champion Magdaléna Rybáriková and 2013 champion Daniela Hantuchová to advance to the semifinals. She lost to fellow countrywoman and eventual champion Angelique Kerber, in straight sets. Lisicki then played at Wimbledon as the 18th seed. She beat Jarmila Gajdošová and Christina McHale to advance to the third round. She lost to Timea Bacsinszky in straight sets ending a streak of making the quarterfinals or better which she had done in her five previous appearances.
Lisicki began her summer hardcourt season at Stanford
Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...
where she lost to Kimiko Date-Krumm in the first round in three sets after being up a set and 4–1. Lisicki then played at the Rogers Cup, beating last year's finalist, Venus Williams and Barbora Strýcová to advance to the third round where she lost to eventual champion, Belinda Bencic in three sets despite having a match point in the third set. She then played at the Western & Southern Open
The Cincinnati Masters or Cincinnati Open (branded as the Western & Southern Open for sponsorship reasons) is an annual outdoor hardcourt tennis event held in Mason, Ohio near Cincinnati. The event started on September 18, 1899, and is the olde ...
and lost in the first round to Caroline Garcia in three sets. Lisicki then played at the US Open as the 24th seed. She beat qualifier Aliaksandra Sasnovich and Camila Giorgi
Camila Giorgi (; born 30 December 1991) is an Italian professional tennis player. She has a career-high singles ranking of world No. 26, achieved on 22 October 2018. She is the current Italian No. 2, after Martina Trevisan.
After winning her f ...
in the first two rounds. In the third round she beat Barbora Strýcová in three tight sets, coming from 1–5 down in the third set to advance to the fourth round for the first time at the tournament since 2011. It was the final singles match ever played on the Grandstand court. She lost to Simona Halep in three sets, in a match that had a combined 105 unforced errors and 17 breaks of serve.
After the completion of the US Open, Lisicki reported that she would not compete for the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Lisicki ended the year at No. 32.
2016: Struggles, in and out of top 100
Lisicki began her 2016 season at the Hopman Cup representing Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
with Alexander Zverev
Alexander "Sascha" Zverev (; born 20 April 1997) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) as high as world No. 2, and was continuously ranked in the top 10 from July 2017 to ...
. They were eliminated in the group stage with a 1–2 record, with their only victory coming against France. Her next tournament was the Sydney International where she lost in the second round to eventual champion, Svetlana Kuznetsova. Seeded 30th at the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
, she was defeated in the second round by Denisa Allertová.
In Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...
, Lisicki lost in the first round to Monica Niculescu. Seeded third at the Malaysian Open, she reached the quarterfinals where she was defeated by Naomi Broady
Naomi Broady (; born 28 February 1990) is a British tennis player.
She has won one WTA doubles title, as well as nine singles titles and 20 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. On 7 March 2016, she reached her best singles ranking of wor ...
. Seeded 29th at Indian Wells, she lost in the second round to Johanna Larsson. Seeded 29th in Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
, she was defeated in the second round by Irina-Camelia Begu, despite having a 5–0 lead and one match point in the third set.
Seeded 15th at the Charleston Open, which was formerly called the Family Circle Cup, Lisicki lost in the second round to Yulia Putintseva. At the Porsche Grand Prix, she was defeated in the first round by Tímea Babos. Competing in Madrid
Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), an ...
, she lost in the second round to eighth seed Carla Suárez Navarro. At the Italian Open Italian Open may refer to:
*Italian Open (tennis), a Masters 1000 level tennis tournament played in Rome each year.
*Italian Open (golf)
The DS Automobiles Italian Open ( it, Open d'Italia) is the men's national open golf championship of Italy. It ...
, she was ousted in the first round by Daria Gavrilova. At the Nuremberg Cup
The Nuremberg Cup was a women's professional tennis tournament held in Nuremberg, Germany. Held from 2013 until 2019, this 250-level tournament was played on outdoor clay courts.
Tournament history
The Nuremberg Open was a defunct men's tenni ...
, Lisicki avenged her loss to Lara Arruabarrena the previous year before losing to Varvara Lepchenko in straight sets. At the French Open
The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and v ...
, Lisicki lost to qualifier Verónica Cepede Royg in the first round in straight sets.
Lisicki started her grass season at the Mallorca Open
The Mallorca Championships is a professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Classified as an ATP 250 tournament, the event is annually held at the outdoor grass courts of Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, Spain in June, a week ...
. She beat Kristina Mladenovic before losing to Mariana Duque in three sets. Lisicki then played at Wimbledon. She easily beat recent French Open quarterfinalist Shelby Rogers in straight sets and in the second round she beat 14th seed Sam Stosur in straight sets. She then fell to Yaroslava Shvedova in the third round.
Lisicki started her hardcourt season at Washington, D.C.., where she defeated Kristína Kučová before losing to Kristina Mladenovic, also in straight sets. At the Canadian Open qualifying, after receiving a walkover in the first round, she fell to Magda Linette. This loss saw her fall out of the top 100. She couldn't qualify for the 2016 Summer Olympics. She played at the Cincinnati Open qualifying stage and knocked out Anastasija Sevastova in round one, but was defeated by Zheng Saisai in round two. At the US Open, Lisicki lost to Yulia Putintseva in the first round, but in doubles, she and Alla Kudryavtseva
Alla Alexandrovna Kudryavtseva (; born 3 November 1987) is a retired Russian tennis player.
Kudryavtseva won one singles title and nine doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as two singles titles and 15 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Cir ...
defeated Varatchaya Wongteanchai
Varatchaya "Pias" Wongteanchai ( th, วรัชญา วงค์เทียนชัย; born 7 September 1989) is a former professional tennis player from Thailand.
In her career, she won two doubles titles on the WTA Tour, as well as four ...
/Yang Zhaoxuan
Yang Zhaoxuan (; ; born 11 February 1995) is a Chinese professional tennis player.
Yang reached her best doubles ranking of world No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings on 24 October 2022.
Yang has won six doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one W ...
and second seed Chan Hao-ching/ Chan Yung-jan in the first two rounds, but then fell to 13th seed Andreja Klepač/ Katarina Srebotnik.
At the Japan Open, Lisicki lost to Johanna Larsson. Then at the Guangzhou Open, she safely reached the quarterfinals by beating Kwan Yau Ng and Peng Shuai, but finally lost to Jelena Janković. At the Wuhan Open, Lisicki was defeated by Ekaterina Makarova and at the China Open, Lisicki beat Lučić-Baroni but lost to Svitolina. She received a wildcard in both the Wuhan Open and China Open and after this, Lisicki was back in the top 100 again.
At the Luxembourg Open, she beat Viktorija Golubic but lost to second seed Caroline Wozniacki. Lisicki next played at the Hawaii Open and beat Julia Boserup
Julia Boserup (born September 9, 1991) is an American retired tennis player of Danish descent.
Boserup began playing tennis at age six, after her mother, a native of Denmark, enrolled her in group tennis lessons. She was home schooled in high ...
and Verónica Cepede Royg, but retired injured in the third set of her quarterfinal against Jacqueline Cako
Jacqueline Cako (born August 30, 1991) is an American tennis player of Hungarian descent.
She has won two singles and 12 doubles titles on the ITF Women's Circuit. In October 2017, she reached her best singles ranking of world No. 172. In April ...
. Lisicki ended the year at No. 93.
2017: Restart
Lisicki was supposed to participate at the Kooyong Classic; however, she withdrew due to a shoulder injury, which also kept her out of the Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
.
Lisicki returned to the courts in June at the Mallorca Open
The Mallorca Championships is a professional tennis tournament on the ATP Tour. Classified as an ATP 250 tournament, the event is annually held at the outdoor grass courts of Mallorca Country Club in Santa Ponsa, Mallorca, Spain in June, a week ...
. She reached the quarterfinals beating fifth seed Kiki Bertens
Kiki Bertens (; born 10 December 1991) is a Dutch former professional tennis player. Her career-high WTA singles ranking was world No. 4, which she reached on 13 May 2019, becoming the highest ranked Dutch female player ever.
Her career-high do ...
and Shelby Rogers. She ended up losing to eventual finalist Julia Görges. At Wimbledon, she was defeated in the first round by 27th seed Ana Konjuh
Ana Konjuh (; born 27 December 1997) is a Croatian tennis player.
A successful junior player, Konjuh won both the singles and doubles junior events at the Australian Open in January 2013 and, as a result, moved up to No. 1 in the ITF Junior w ...
.
Lisicki made it to the quarterfinals at the Washington Open eliminating qualifier Valentini Grammatikopoulou and Aryna Sabalenka. She ended up losing to fifth seed Océane Dodin. At the US Open, she was defeated in the first round by 27th seed Zhang Shuai.
In October, Lisicki competed at the Luxembourg Open. She lost in the second round to lucky loser Naomi Broady. Her final tournament of the year was at the Open de Limoges. She reached the semifinal where she retired during the second set against Antonia Lottner.
Lisicki ended the year ranked 268.
2018: Injury struggles
Skipping the Australian Open, Lisicki played at the Taiwan Open, which was her first tournament after a break caused by a knee injury. She reached her first semifinal since 2015, losing to Kateryna Kozlova. In Doha
Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the c ...
, she was defeated in the first round of qualifying by Markéta Vondroušová
Markéta Šimková (née Vondroušová; ; born 28 June 1999) is a Czech professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of world No. 14 by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Vondroušová finished runner-up at the 2019 French Open, ...
. At the Hungarian Open Hungarian Open may refer to:
* Hungarian Open (darts)
* Hungarian Open (table tennis)
* Hungarian Open (tennis), an ATP World Tour event
* Hungarian Challenger Open, an ATP Challenger Tour event
* Hungarian Ladies Open, a WTA Tour event
* Hungaria ...
, she lost her second-round match to lucky loser Viktória Kužmová. She was defeated in the first round of qualifying at Indian Wells and Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
by Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WT ...
and Andrea Petkovic.
2019: Continued struggles, rankings drop
In her first Australian Open
The Australian Open is a tennis tournament held annually at Melbourne Park in Melbourne, Australia. The tournament is the first of the four Grand Slam tennis events held each year, preceding the French Open, Wimbledon, and the US Open. ...
appearance since 2016, Lisicki lost in the first qualifying round to Isabelle Wallace. That was her third straight first-round qualifying loss at a Grand Slam event. She next lost in the first round of Hua Hin to Garbiñe Muguruza. She lost in the first qualifying round to Zarina Diyas at Dubai
Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics ...
, and lost in the first round of Charleston
Charleston most commonly refers to:
* Charleston, South Carolina
* Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital
* Charleston (dance)
Charleston may also refer to:
Places Australia
* Charleston, South Australia
Canada
* Charleston, Newfoundlan ...
to Sofia Kenin
Sofia Anna "Sonya" Kenin (born November 14, 1998) is an American professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) of No. 4 in the world, which she achieved on March 9, 2020. She was the 2020 WT ...
. She lost in the first round of Bogotá
Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city of Colombia, and one of the largest ...
to the eventual champion Amanda Anisimova, and lost in the first qualifying round at Stuttgart to Isabella Shinikova. She then lost in the first qualifying round of Rabat to Bibiane Schoofs, and lost in the first round of Nuremberg
Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...
to Ajla Tomljanović.
She failed to qualify for the ITF tournament in Surbiton
Surbiton is a suburban neighbourhood in South West London, within the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames (RBK). It is next to the River Thames, southwest of Charing Cross. Surbiton was in the historic county of Surrey and since 1965 it h ...
, and also failed to qualify for the tournament in Rosmalen, losing in the first qualifying round to Greet Minnen. She next lost in the second qualifying round of Mallorca
Mallorca, or Majorca, is the largest island in the Balearic Islands, which are part of Spain and located in the Mediterranean.
The capital of the island, Palma, is also the capital of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. The Bale ...
to Kaja Juvan, despite defeating compatriot Mona Barthel in the first qualifying round. She received a wildcard for the Wimbledon qualifying, where she lost in the final round to Lesley Pattinama Kerkhove, after defeating Tímea Babos and Ankita Raina. Despite failing to qualify for the main draw, this was her best showing since her first-round finish at the 2017 US Open. Her final event of the year was the WTA 125 event at Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the German States of Germany, state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital o ...
, where she was defeated in the first round by Jasmine Paolini
Jasmine Paolini (; born 4 January 1996) is an Italian tennis player. She reached career-high WTA rankings of No. 44 in singles and 122 in doubles. Paolini has won one singles title (at the 2021 Slovenian Open) and one doubles title on the WTA To ...
. She ended the year ranked No. 335.
2020: Severe injury
Her first event of the year was the WTA 125 Prague Open, where she reached the fourth round, defeating Samantha Murray Sharan, Stephanie Wagner, and Chihiro Muramatsu
is a Japanese tennis player.
On 24 February 2020, Muramatsu achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 205. On 2 April 2018, she peaked at No. 303 in the WTA doubles rankings. Muramatsu has won one singles title and three doubles titl ...
, before losing to Francesca Jones. Lisicki participated in her first WTA event of the year at Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
, where she defeated Bibiane Schoofs in the first qualifying round before falling to Tereza Martincová. In doubles, at the same event with Jodie Burrage, she retired from her first-round match against Ulrikke Eikeri and Yana Sizikova, whilst the pair led 6–5 in the first set. Lisicki fell on court, and tore her anterior cruciate ligament, and announced later that she had received surgery for the injury. She ended the year ranked No. 622.
2022: Comeback and first WTA tour win since 2018
In May, eighteen months after surgery, Lisicki made her return to professional tennis in the qualifying draw of the 2022 FineMark Women's Pro Tennis Championship, an ITF $100,000 event played on clay courts. She won her first match 6-3, 6-4 against Ena Shibahara, a top ten ranked doubles player. In the final round of qualifying, she lost 2-6, 2-6 to Gabriela Lee
Gabriela Lee (née Talabă; born 23 August 1995) is a Romanian tennis player.
She has a career-high WTA singles ranking of 136, achieved on 1 August 2022, and a career-high WTA doubles ranking of 229, also set on 1 August 2022. To date, she has ...
, who would go on to win the tournament. Lisicki then played a $25,000 ITF clay tournament i
Sarasota
She beat Anastasia Nefedova 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 in the first round, and then beat fourth seed Sofia Shapatava 6-4, 6-3 in the second round. In the quarterfinal, she played seventh seed Ashlyn Krueger but withdrew from the match trailing 6-7(4-7), 2-2.
Lisicki began her grass court season at the 2022 Surbiton Trophy
The 2022 Surbiton Trophy was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass. It was the 17th edition for men and 18th for women, which were respectively part of the 2022 ATP Challenger Tour and the 2022 ITF Women's World Tennis Tour. I ...
. To qualify, she beat Naiktha Bains 6-3, 6-4 and Marcela Zacarias 6-2, 6-1. In the main draw, she lost to Kateryna Baindl
Kateryna Baindl ( uk, Катерина Ігорівна Баіндль, née Kozlova; born 20 February 1994) is a Ukrainian tennis player. On 19 February 2018, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62. On 22 October 2012, she ...
2-6, 6-0, 6-7. She then received wildcards to compete in the 2022 WTA German Open
The 2022 WTA German Open (also known as the bett1open for sponsorship purposes) was a professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the Rot-Weiss Tennis Club in Berlin, Germany from 13 June to 19 June 2022. It was the 95th editi ...
in Berlin. In the singles draw, she beat Asia Muhammad 6-4, 6-4 in the first round of qualifying, before losing to Daria Saville 0-6, 6-7(7-9) in the final round. In the doubles draw, she partnered with Bianca Andreescu
Bianca Vanessa Andreescu (; born June 16, 2000) is a Canadian professional tennis player. She has a career-high ranking of No. 4 in the world, and is the highest-ranked Canadian in the history of the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Andreescu ...
as a wildcard pair. They beat Yang Zhaoxuan
Yang Zhaoxuan (; ; born 11 February 1995) is a Chinese professional tennis player.
Yang reached her best doubles ranking of world No. 11 in the WTA doubles rankings on 24 October 2022.
Yang has won six doubles titles on the WTA Tour and one W ...
and Xu Yifan
Xu Yifan (; ; born 8 August 1988) is a professional tennis player from China. She reached a career-high ranking of No. 148 in singles, on 13 July 2015. Since October 2018, she has specialized playing in doubles. On 13 January 2020, she peaked ...
7-5, 6-4 in the first round and then beat third seeds Asia Muhammad and Ena Shibahara 7-6(7-4), 1-6, 0-7in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they lost to top seeds Storm Sanders and Kateřina Siniaková.
Lisicki won her first main draw match on the WTA Tour since 2018 as a wildcard at the 2022 Bad Homburg Open
The 2022 Bad Homburg Open was a women's professional tennis tournament played on outdoor grass courts at the TC Bad Homburg in Bad Homburg, Germany, from 19 June to 25 June 2022. It was the second edition of the Bad Homburg Open and was classified ...
, defeating compatriot Tamara Korpatsch
Tamara Korpatsch (born 12 May 1995) is a German tennis player.
She has a career-high singles WTA ranking of No. 74, achieved on 28 November 2022, and doubles ranking of No. 291, achieved on 7 March 2022. She has won one singles title on WTA Cha ...
in the first round. She then beat Belgian Greet Minnen in the second round before losing to eventual champion Caroline Garcia
Caroline Garcia (, born 16 October 1993) is a French professional tennis player. She has been ranked in the top 5 in both singles at world No. 4 and in doubles at world No. 2. Garcia is the 2022 WTA Finals singles champion.
She is also a two- ...
in the quarterfinals. With this result, she re-entered the top 500 in the WTA world rankings.
Lisicki's next tournament was the Hamburg Open
The Hamburg European Open (formerly ''German Open Tennis Championships'') is an annual tennis tournament for professional players held in Hamburg, Germany and part of the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Tour. Before 2021, it was a mal ...
, where she received a wildcard to play in the qualifying tournament. In the qualifying draw, she defeated twelfth seed Stefanie Vögele and first seed Kateryna Baindl
Kateryna Baindl ( uk, Катерина Ігорівна Баіндль, née Kozlova; born 20 February 1994) is a Ukrainian tennis player. On 19 February 2018, she achieved a career-high singles ranking of world No. 62. On 22 October 2012, she ...
. In the first round of the main draw, she lost to Aleksandra Krunić.
Lisicki would not play again until November, when she was awarded a wildcard into the main draw of the Calgary National Bank Challenger. In the first two rounds, she beat qualifiers Carmen Corley
Carmen Corley (born September 17, 2001) is an American tennis player.
Corley has a career high WTA singles ranking of 1158 achieved on 26 September 2022. She also has a career high WTA doubles ranking of 467 achieved on 31 October 2022.
Corley ...
and Martyna Ostrzygalo in straight sets, respectively. In the quarterfinals, she lost to eventual champion Robin Montgomery in two tiebreak sets. She then accepted a wildcard into the Andorra Open
, image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg
, image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg
, symbol_type = Coat of arms
, national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none ( Latin)"United virtue is str ...
, where she defeated sixth seed Sara Errani
Sara Errani (; born 29 April 1987) is an Italian professional tennis player. She is a former top five player in singles and former world No. 1 in doubles. With 9 singles titles and 27 doubles titles (including 5 Grand Slam doubles championship ...
in the first round, but lost to later champion Alycia Parks
Alycia Michelle Parks (born December 31, 2000) is an American tennis player.
She has career-high WTA rankings of 50 in singles and world No. 42 in doubles, achieved 2023, on February 27 and March 20, respectively.
Career 2021: WTA Tour & Grand ...
in the quarterfinals.
Playing style
A baseliner, Lisicki hits "heavy balls" with topspin and pace. She has a strong forehand and backhand, hitting balls with power, depth and angles. She is nicknamed "Boom Boom" for her "huge serve and thumping groundstrokes". Germany Fed Cup team Captain Barbara Rittner
Barbara Rittner (born 25 April 1973) is a German former professional tennis player. She currently is the captain of the German Fed Cup team.
Her career-high singles ranking was No. 24 in the world, achieved on 1 February 1993.
As a junior, sh ...
has compared her to Steffi Graf, saying that she can "impose her game" and "plays with the same force" as Graf.[
]
Serve
Lisicki's serve is among the most powerful on the WTA Tour, having been described variously as a "cannon" and a "howitzer". She is known to hit serves at speeds of over 120 mph, and at the 2014 Bank of the West Classic
The 2014 Bank of the West Classic was a professional tennis tournament played on hard courts. It was the 43rd edition of the tournament, which was part of the WTA Premier tournaments of the 2014 WTA Tour. It took place in Stanford, United States ...
she broke the WTA fastest serve record with a speed of 131 mph, a record previously held by Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams (born June 17, 1980) is an American professional tennis player. A former world No. 1 in both singles and doubles, Williams has won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open. She ...
at 129 mph.
Her serve is often regarded as her main weapon and with it, for the year up to November 2013, she was ranked fifth in the WTA for first service points won, 70.7%, and fifth for service games won, 73.7%. She was ranked second in the aces count in 2013, only behind Serena Williams, and was ranked fifth in 2014. Lisicki also held the record for the most aces in a singles match. She broke the record of 24, held jointly by Serena Williams
Serena Jameka Williams (born September 26, 1981) is an American inactive professional tennis player. Considered among the greatest tennis players of all time, she was ranked world No. 1 in singles by the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) fo ...
and Kaia Kanepi
Kaia Kanepi (; born 10 June 1985) is an Estonian professional tennis player. She achieved her career-high ranking of world No. 15 on 20 August 2012 and has won four singles titles on the WTA Tour.
Described as a 'resident Grand Slam upset spe ...
, by hitting 27 aces during her second-round encounter against Belinda Bencic at the 2015 Aegon Classic on 17 June 2015.[
Lisicki, however, can be hindered by her weak and inconsistent second serve, which is usually only around 70 to 80 mph, and an occasionally high double-fault counts.]
Surfaces
Lisicki's favourite surface is grass and she has had the most success on that surface. She used to "hate" playing on grass because she is allergic to it and had a five-match losing streak on grass in 2009. She is now on medication for her allergy and "loves" playing on it.
Personal life
Lisicki lives in Bradenton, Florida
Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698.
History
Late 18th and early 19th centuries ...
, USA, and owns a Yorkshire Terrier named Happy. She is fluent in German, English and Polish. Her off-court interests include reading, music, and athletics. Lisicki is a fan of the Germany national football team
The Germany national football team (german: link=no, Deutsche Fußballnationalmannschaft) represents Germany in men's international Association football, football and played its first match in 1908. The team is governed by the German Football ...
and of Bundesliga
The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footbal ...
club Bayern Munich. She is gluten
Gluten is a structural protein naturally found in certain cereal grains. Although "gluten" often only refers to wheat proteins, in medical literature it refers to the combination of prolamin and glutelin proteins naturally occurring in all gra ...
-intolerant.
Lisicki was previously in a relationship with German comedian Oliver Pocher, whom she dated for almost three years. The couple split in 2016.
Career statistics
Grand Slam performance timelines
Singles
Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (runner-up)
Doubles: 1 (runner-up)
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Lisicki, Sabine
1989 births
Living people
People from Troisdorf
Sportspeople from Cologne (region)
German expatriates in the United States
German female tennis players
German people of Polish descent
Hopman Cup competitors
Olympic tennis players of Germany
Sportspeople from Bradenton, Florida
Tennis people from North Rhine-Westphalia
Tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics