Spectators at the 2015 AEGON Classic got to witness a historic moment today as Sabine Lisicki set a new world record for number of aces served in a single match in Birmingham this afternoon.
The 2011 Birmingham champion served no less than 27 aces in her two-set match against Belinda Bencic, improving Alexandra Stevenson’s past record by two aces. Even an extended rain delay could not derail the German Wimbledon finalist today as Lisicki once again came to life on her most favorite surface, being all smiles after her successful match.
Unfortunately, Lisicki was the only one of the tournament darlings to live up to the expectations the fans set in her as it was a pretty dire day for the other popular players in action. Reigning AEGON Classic champion Ana Ivanovic had to pack up after her three-set loss to Portugal’s Michelle Larcher de Brito.
Watched by beau Bastian Schweinsteiger, the popular Serbian wasn’t able to carry her French Open momentum onto grass, falling behind the Portuguese player from the start and losing the match despite a short-lived recovery in the second set.
Eugenie Bouchard had a similar day as her plans of finally turning her increasingly-depressing 2015 season around have to be postponed by yet another week. Bouchard lost in three-sets to Kristina Mladenovic, even getting bagled by the Frenchwoman in the deciding third set. Afterwards, Bouchard tried to explain her loss to the curious media, sounding pretty clueless about what has caused her results to take such a nosedive this season.
The final bit of bad news for one of the tournament’s key players came in the afternoon, since Victoria Azarenka had to withdraw before her second-round match against Zarina Diyas as left-foot injury prevented the two-time Australian Open champion to continue what looked like a promising 2015 AEGON Classic campaign.
The third round of the 2015 AEGON Classic will be played on Thursday and top seed Simona Halep is due to play her second match in Birmingham. Keep checking back for all the latest action from the Edgbaston Priory Club all week!
Michelle has been playing great on grass. She had already beaten top players at Birmingham before Ana. Don’t forget she knocked Maria out of Wimbledon last year.
Hard to believe Alexandra Stevenson held any WTA records. She is still traveling and losing in the ITF circuit with her absolutely crazy mother. Please Alexandra ditch her and get a real coach. You have the talent.
Talk about German efficiency.
Just please stop calling Schweini, Anas boyfriend, a beau… 😀
Ana didn’t perform well in any tournament she wore that outfit and at FO, The only tournament she didn’t wear it, she made it to grandslam SF for the first time since 2008. Just saying…..