Brave Lisicki produces a thriller, but says goodbye against Kerber in Wimbledon quarters

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Wilson Blade 9

It didn’t seem likely based on the first set and the beginning of the second, but Sabine Lisicki woke up all the lulled tennis fans who are watching Wimbledon at night to produce a thriller against Angelique Kerber and even though it was undecided until the very end, eventually it was the higher-ranked Kerber advancing to the semis, preventing Lisicki from reaching her second straight Wimbledon semifinal.

In the encounter of two Germans with Polish blood, the 15th-seeded Lisicki made a small revival from 4-1 down in the first set to 4-3 down, but Kerber quickly finished the set 6-3.

In the second set Kerber raced to a 3-0 lead and looked to be en route to a quick win, but again Lisicki returned, this time leveling at 3-3. Later on, the eighth-seeded Kerber earned two match points, but Lisicki fought them off in a fantastic game, putting the entire Twittersphere on her side, earned a tiebreak, saved the third match point during the tiebreak and won the set, inspiring people to praise the entertainment of women’s tennis.

At 4-3 in the third set, Lisicki went 40-0 up on Kerber’s serve and Kerber even helped her with a double fault. However, when Lisicki was serving for the match at 5-3, Kerber mirrored the situation from the previous game, earned 40-0 on Lisicki’s serve and won that game to eventually close out 6-3 6-7(7) 7-5 on the fifth match point.

The smile from this photo is probably not on Lisicki’s face right now as Kerber is joining Serena Williams in the semis and will next play either Agnieszka Radwanska or Maria Kirilenko. (photo: © Neal Trousdale)

7 COMMENTS

  1. That was a really good day (well, the weather aside…), we saw some amazing tennis out there 🙂
    The 2nd and the 3rd set of Kerber vs. Lisicki match were great, same as the Paszek vs. Azarenka match. Paszek was great, unfortunately for her Azarenka is incredibly consistent – not only she’s making a very few errors but she’s sizing every opportunity she gets. Just give her a small opening and she’s gonna kick the door off its hinges!
    As for Radwanska… that was really strange – match that started at 3h30 p.m. ended at 11 p.m.?! And they actually decided to finish it AFTER they’ve said that it’s gonna be finished the next day? Because of that I missed it!:/ But I’m still very happy for Aga. Both for her and for Kerber, it’s their very first GC semi 🙂 One of many to come I hope!

  2. I’m sure the Sabine Lisicki is still smiling. She had a great tournament and fought back against Kerber. Maybe Omair should do a study om smiling. Sabine would win going away! Will the final be another Azarenka blow out over Radwanska? 🙂

  3. With you there JohnnyB. Lovely to see smiles on court. Just seems very genuine and hope to see lot more of her in future Wimbledons

  4. I hope that Serena will disarm Victoria before it comes to taht 😉 But if Victoria wins and Aga wins I think that the outcome is not so certain. Yes, the stats are against Aga (and in a big way…), but she’ll be determined as hell to both win her first GC title and to prove to Vika and the world that she can win against the very best. So, goooo Aga 🙂

  5. Talking of smiling: how about Tamira’s smile after losing a point at a free-for-all around the whole court?
    More power to her and to all those who smile after a great rally – less to those who smile only after winning the match.

  6. Lisicki’s match was the best womens match I’ve seen in ages. The fight in her to save all those match points was incredible, and it was just pure power winners! I can imagine the nerves would be bery high at 5-4 up and serving for the match against your compatriot who youve never beat, she can definately beat her next time.

    She should be nicknamed the pocket rocket for her small stature and great shots 🙂

    Great to see someone smiling so much and enjoying it too. Couple that with her looks and I think Ive found a new favouite womens player 🙂

  7. DannyB, you’re not the only one. 🙂 I was on Twitter throughout the match, and I don’t remember seeing anyone rooting for Kerber 😛 She drew many people to her camp with that performance. There were also many love offers 😛

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