Lisicki now has a chance to finally reach her first Grand Slam final and become the first German woman to feature in the Wimbledon final since Steffi Graf in 1999. PHOTO: AFP
LONDON:
Sabine Lisicki admits her run to the Wimbledon semi-finals is a dream come to true just three years after she feared her career would be ruined by a devastating ankle injury.
Lisicki swept into the last four yesterday as the German followed her sensational upset of Serena Williams with an emphatic 6-3, 6-3 victory over Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi.
The 23rd seed will play Polish fourth seed Agnieszka Radwanska, who defeated Chinese sixth seed Li Na 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-2 in a two-hour, 43 minute contest on Centre Court.
The joy of the last few days is far cry from 2010 when she was on crutches for months after sustaining a serious left ankle injury at Indian Wells.
After five months of rehabilitation, she was finally able to return to action, but by the end of 2010 her ranking had slipped from 23 to 179.
In March 2011, she was down at 218.
“Three years ago I had to learn how to walk again and that has made me appreciate every single moment out there a lot more,” said Lisicki.
“Once you have to learn how to walk again, it just shows you how we actually have to appreciate to have two healthy legs.
“Being on crutches, you can’t carry anything. You need the help of somebody else. So just being able to walk again and carry my own stuff was great.
“And then to come back on the court to compete and then to go even further than I did before the injury gives you a lot of strength.
“It’s a different feeling when I’m out there now.”
Djokovic looks to avenge 2010 Berdych defeat
Novak Djokovic tackles Tomas Berdych for a place in the Wimbledon semi-finals today still feeling the raw pain of his defeat to the Czech at the All England Club three years ago.
World number one Djokovic was beaten in straight sets in the semi-finals by Berdych in 2010, a defeat which raised serious doubts over whether or not the gifted but unpredictable Serb would ever build on his Australian Open breakthrough of 2008.
He lost that day but has since gone on to win five more majors including the Australian Open, Wimbledon and US Open crowns in 2011.
“Yes, I had quite a turbulent five, six months of 2010 but the semi-finals came in the right time for me because I felt that was like a springboard for me,” said Djokovic. “From that moment on everything started going uphill really.
“I’m expecting a difficult match. But I feel good about myself. I think I actually play better tennis on grass than I played two years ago. I’m number one in the world. I have no reason to be concerned about my game.”
In the other quarter-final of the day, Britain’s last hope at Wimbledon, Andy Murray, will face Spain’s Fernando Verdasco.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 3rd, 2013.
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