Lisicki wins inaugural Hong Kong Open
Top seed fights back to secure 7-5, 6-3 victory over Pliskova.
HONG KONG:
Sabine Lisicki justified her top seeding by winning the inaugural WTA Hong Kong Open 7-5, 6-3 against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Sunday.
The German had endured a lean time on tour since losing the Wimbledon final to Marion Bartoli last year, tumbling out of the world’s top 30.
Lisicki only accepted a wildcard into the Hong Kong tournament at the last minute after US Open semi-finalist Peng Shuai and world number seven Eugenie Bouchard pulled out. It proved to be a move that paid off handsomely.
“I’m very happy,” said Lisicki. “Especially because it was such a spontaneous decision. We literally decided [to play] three or four days before the tournament started.”
The scoreline may say it was a straight-sets victory, but it was far from straightforward in an error-strewn match at the Victoria Park centre court.
The Czech third seed had seemed destined to avenge her second-round defeat to the German at Wimbledon this year when she raced into a 5-1 lead in the first set, breaking Lisicki’s serve twice.
But Lisicki, who at that point was managing to put only a woeful 40% of her first serves into play, slowly got into her stride to spark a remarkable run in which she broke back twice to level at 5-5.
Asked by reporters if she had thought about letting the set slip away at 1-5, Lisicki gave a robust response
“No. Never. I always fight for every single point no matter what the score is.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2014.
Sabine Lisicki justified her top seeding by winning the inaugural WTA Hong Kong Open 7-5, 6-3 against Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic on Sunday.
The German had endured a lean time on tour since losing the Wimbledon final to Marion Bartoli last year, tumbling out of the world’s top 30.
Lisicki only accepted a wildcard into the Hong Kong tournament at the last minute after US Open semi-finalist Peng Shuai and world number seven Eugenie Bouchard pulled out. It proved to be a move that paid off handsomely.
“I’m very happy,” said Lisicki. “Especially because it was such a spontaneous decision. We literally decided [to play] three or four days before the tournament started.”
The scoreline may say it was a straight-sets victory, but it was far from straightforward in an error-strewn match at the Victoria Park centre court.
The Czech third seed had seemed destined to avenge her second-round defeat to the German at Wimbledon this year when she raced into a 5-1 lead in the first set, breaking Lisicki’s serve twice.
But Lisicki, who at that point was managing to put only a woeful 40% of her first serves into play, slowly got into her stride to spark a remarkable run in which she broke back twice to level at 5-5.
Asked by reporters if she had thought about letting the set slip away at 1-5, Lisicki gave a robust response
“No. Never. I always fight for every single point no matter what the score is.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2014.