Former Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki got her Citi Open campaign off to a good start with a solid 6-3, 7-5 victory over Slovak Kristina Kucova here in Washington DC. Lisicki, who is making her debut here in the nation's capital this week, wasted no time moving into the second round, advancing in only an hour and 25 minutes.
Lisicki eases through opening set
Lisicki began the match having to fight off break points in her opening service game of the match, eventually holding before Kucova did the same. The pair then exchanged holds the following four games, each taking care of their own serve comfortably to bring the score to 3-all.
The German then amped up her level off the return, taking her first break of the match on her second chance to go up 4-3 and put herself in command in the opening set. The former Wimbledon finalist then consolidated the break, holding easily to force her far less experienced opponent to serve to stay in it. With the pressure all on the shoulders of Kucova, the 26-year-old Slovak folded, giving up a second break of serve and the set at 15 to hand Lisicki the opening set 6-3.
Lisicki holds off Kucova to advance to second round
The second set began very similarly to the first, with Lisicki and Kucova each taking care of their serves initially to bring the score line to 2-all. Lisicki then took an emphatic hold to love, before using that momentum to spur herself onto a break on her second time of asking for a set and a 4-2 lead.
From there on, things got a bit complicated for the former Wimbledon runner-up, with a sloppy game on her serve giving the break back to Kucova to bring the score to 4-3. Lisicki kept the streak of breaks going, snatching her break lead back for a 5-3 lead and giving herself the chance to serve for the match.
Lisicki got out to an early lead in her service game, bringing up a match point on her powerful serve only for the Slovak to save it and break for a fourth straight game, bringing the match back on serve at 5-4. Kucova kept the fight back going, taking an easy hold to level the match at 5-all.
After one chance to close the match out fell to the wayside, Lisicki dug her heels in this time, holding to love to force Kucova to serve to stay alive in the match. This time, the German made no mistake, taking her first match point of the game and second of the match to secure a 6-3, 7-5 win and a spot in the second round here in the nation's capital.